^_i=l?- 


z:../ 


-*«: 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

Theological    Seminary, 

PRINCETON,    N.J.  • 

^^^  ^ARE"  boot: 

(7a.se,. ..^>^  ^Sr<. Division 

SheJf,       f  (c^    ^ —      Section 

Bm\k,        i/'    ^^  No. 


•^  —  \     V 


^   "-^y^- 
-s^^^*^ 


A 

VINDICATION 

OF 

DIVINE  PROVIDENCE; 

DERIVED  FROM  A 

PHILOSOPHIC  AND  MORAL  SURVEY 

OF 

NATURE  AND  OF  MAN. 

BY 

JAMES  HENRY  BERNARDIN 

DE  SAINT  PIERRE. 

AUTHOR  OF  THE  STUDIES  OF  NATURE. 


MISERIS    SUCCURRERB    DISCO. 


TRANSLATED  BY 

HENRY  HUNTER,  D.  D. 
Minister  of  the  scots  church,  london  wall. 

FIRST  AMERICAN  EDITION. 


%^^ 


VOL.    II. 


WORCESTER  : 
Frinted  for  J.  NANCREDE,  No.  49,  MARiaoROvca  Street,  Bostow* 

^797' 


VINDICATION 


OF 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE. 


STUDY  NINTH. 


OF  SOME  GENERAL  LAWS  OF  NATURE. 

AND,    FIRST, 

OF  PHYSICAL  LAWS. 


W  E  fliall  divide  thefe  Laws  into  l^dcvfsphyficat,  and  Laws 
moral.  We  fhall  firft  examine,  in  the  fequel  of  this  Vol- 
ume, fome  phyfical  Laws  common  to  all  the  Kingdoms 
of  Nature ;  and,  in  the  following  Study,  ftiall  make  the 
application  of  them  to  plants,  in  conformity  to  the  Plan 
propofed  in  the  commencement  of  this  Work.  We  Ihall, 
afterwards,  proceed  to  the  confideration  of  moral  Laws  ; 
and  fhall  endeavour  to  unfold  in  thefe,  as  well  as  in  the 
phyfical  Laws,  the  means  of  diminifhing  the  fum  of  hu- 
man wretchednefs. 

I  muft  make  frequent  appeals  to  the  candor  of  my 
Readers.  I  am.  prefuming  to  open  a  path  hitherto  unat- 
tempted,  I  dare  not  flatter  myfelf  with  the  belief,  that 
my  progrefs  and  fuccefs  keep  pace  with  the  ardor  of  my 
imagination,  and  the  anticipations  of  my  heart.  But  the 
imperfeft  materials,  which  1  have  bufied  myfelf  in  coU 


4  A  VINDICATION  OF 

]e£ling,  may,  perhaps,  one  day,  aflifl  men  of  greater  abil- 
ity, and  in  a  happier  fituation,  in  raifing  to  Nature  a  tem^' 
pie  more  worthy  of  her.  Recolleft,  my  dear  Reader, 
that  all  I  proraifed  you  was  the  frontifpiece  and  the  ru- 
ins of  it. 


OF  CONFORMITY.* 


Though  Conformity  be  a  perception  of  our  reafon,  1 
place  it  at  the  head  of  phyfical  Laws,  becaufe  it  is  the 
firft  feeling  which  we  endeavour  to  gratify  in  examining 
natural  objefts.  Nay,  there  is  a  connexion  fo  intimate 
between  the  phyfical  charafter  of  thofe  objefts,  and  the 
inftinft  of  every  being  poflefled  of  fcnfibility,  that  a  col- 
our, fimply,  is  fufficient  to  roufe  the  paflions  of  animals. 
A  red  objeft  puts  the  bull  into  a  rage,  and  fuggefts  to 
moll  fowls  and  fifties  the  idea  of  prey.  The  objefts  of 
Nature  difplay,  in  Man,  a  feeling  of  a  higher  order,  inde- 
pendent of  his  wants ;  it  is  that  of  conformity.  It  is  by 
means  of  the  multiplied  conformities  of  Nature  that  Man 
has  formed  his  own  reafon ;  for  rtajon  means  nothing 
elfe  but  the  relation^  or  conformity^  of  things  that  exift. 
Thus,  for  example,  if  I  examine  a  quadruped,  the  eyelids, 

*  I  do  not  know  any  finglc  word  iu  our  language  which  exprefTcs  clofe- 
ly  the  import  of  the  French  word  convenance.  It  fignifies  JuitakUnefSy  cw- 
flfporidence,  the  exafl  adaptation  of  one  thing  to  another.  I  employ  the 
term  conformity,  as  coming  the  ncareft  to  our  Author's  ide«  of  any  one  that 
occured  to  my  miod.  Whoever  has  attempted  tranflation  mult,  Ircqucntly, 
have  felt  the  difficulty  of  rendering  certain  words  by  exaftly  equivalent 
zvords,  though  he  was  at  no  lofs  where  general  meaning  and  expreflion  were 
cpncerncd  ;  for  there  is  no  pcrfeft  convenaim  between  language  and  lan- 
guafre.  1  wifti  it  to  be  uoderflood,  then,  that  wherever  the  word  conjormity 
occurs,  in  ihe  immediate  fecjucl  of  this  Tranflation,  the  meaning  is,  a  com- 
plete coincidence,  congruity,  or  tallying  of  objcft  with  nbjc£f,  as  a  bonc 
fitted  to  its  focket,  as  the  undulations  of  a  paper  check  to  ihofe  of  i«s  coua. 
tcr  check,  as  eye  to  eye,  hand  to  hand,  foot  to  foat ;  and  it  ajiplies  equally 
fo  natural  and  to  moral  objtfls.  H.  H. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  ^ 

which  it  can  raife  or  let  fall,  at  pleafure,  prefcnt  to  me 
conformities  with  light ;  when  I  look  at  the  form  of  his 
feet,  I  fee  a  conformity  to  the  foil  which  he  is  defigned  to 
inhabit.  It  is  impoflible  for  me  to  conceive  a  determinate 
idea  of  thefe,  without  combining,  on  the  fubje^:,  various 
feelings  of  conformity,  or  of  the  want  of  it.  Nay,  the 
moft  material  objefts,  and  fuch  as  have  not,  in  llri6lnefs 
of  fpeech,  any  decided  form,  cannot  prefent  themfelves 
to  us  without  thofe  intelleftual  relations.  A  ruftic  groU 
to,  or  a  fteep  rock,  pleafe  or  give  pain,  according  as  they 
prefent  to  us  the  ideas  of  repofe  or  of  obfcurity,  ot  per- 
fpeftive  or  of  precipice. 

Animals  have  a  fenfibility  only  of  objefts  which  have 
particular  conformities  to  their  wants.  It  may  be  affirm* 
ed  that  they  have,  in  this  refpeft,  a  Ihare  of  reafon  as  per- 
fe6l  as  our  own.  Had  Newton  been  a  bee,  he  could  not, 
with  all  his  geometry,  have  conftrufted  his  cell  in  a  hive, 
without  giving  it,  as  the  honey  bee  has  done,  fix  equal 
partitions.  But  Man  differs  from  animals,  in  his  capaci- 
ty of  extending  this  fentiment  of  conformity  to  all  the  re- 
lations of  Nature,  however  foreign  they  may  be  to  his  per-, 
fonal  demands.  It  is  this  extenfion  of  reafon  which  has 
procured  for  him,  by  way  of  eminence,  the  denomination 
of  a  rational  animal. 

It  is  unqueftionably  true,  that  if  all  the  particular  ra-, 
tionality  of  all  animals  were  united,  the  fum  would  prob- 
jibly  tranfcend  the'  general  reafon  of  Man  ;  for  human  rea^ 
fon  has  devifed  moft  of  its  arts  and  crafts,  entirely  from 
an  imitation  of  their  productions  ;  befides,  all  animals 
come  into  the  world  with  their  peculiar  induftry,  whereas 
Man  is  under  the  neceflity  of  acquiring  his,  at  the  ex- 
penfe  of  much  time  and  refleftion  ;  and,  as  I  have  juft  ob- 
ferved,  by  imitating  thp  induftry  and  fivill  of  another. 
But  Man  excels  them,  not  only  by  uniting,  in  himfelf 
alone,  the  intelligence  fcattcred  over  all  the  reft,  but  by 
his  capability  of  rifing  upward  to  the  fource  of  all  con- 
formities, namely,  to  GOD  him-felf.    The  only  charafter, 


6  A  VINDICATION  of 

which  efTentially  diflinguiflies   Man  from  the  animal,  is 
this,  He  is  a  religious  Being. 

No  one  animal  partakes  with  him  of  this  fublime  fac- 
ulty. It  may  be  confidered  as  the  principle  of  human  in- 
telligence. By  it  Man  is  exalted  above  the  inftinft  of 
the  bealls,  fo  as  to  be  enabled  to  form  a  conception  of  the 
general  plans  of  Nature  ;  and  which  led  him  to  fuppofe 
an  order  of  things,  from  having  caught  a  glimpfe  of  an 
Author.  By  it  he  was  emboldened  to  employ  fire  as  the 
firft  of  agents,  to  crofs  the  Ocean,  to  give  a  new  face  to 
the  Earth  by  agriculture,  to  fubjeft  all  animals  to  his  em- 
pire, to  eftablifli  Society  on  the  bafis  of  a  religion,  and  to 
attempt  to  raife  himfelf  up  to  Deity  by  his  virtues.  It 
was  not  Nature,  as  is  commonly  believed,  which  firft 
pointed  out  GOD  to  Man,  but  it  is  a  fenfe  of  the  Deity, 
in  Man,  which  has  indicated  to  him  the  order  of  Nature. 
The  Savages  are  religious,  long  before  they  are  Natur- 
alills. 

Accordingly,  by  the  fentiment  of  this  univerfal  con- 
formity, Man  is  ftruck  with  all  pofTibJe  conformities, 
though  they  may  be  foreign  to  him.  He  takes  an  inter- 
^ft  in  the  hifloiy  of  an  infeft ;  and  if  his  attention  is  not 
engaged  in  behalf  of  all  the  infefts  which  furround  him, 
it  is  becaufe  he  perceives  not  their  relations,  unlefs  there 
be  fonie  Rcaianur  at  hand  to  difplay  them  to  him  ;  or  elfe, 
the  conflant  hiibit  of  feeing  them  renders  them  infipid  ; 
perhaps  it  may  be  fome  odious  or  contemptible  prejudice  ; 
for  he  is  affefted  fliil  more  by  moral  than  by  phyfical 
ideas,  and  by  his  paffions  more  than  by  his  reafon. 

We  fhall  fartlicr  remark,  that  all  the  fentiments  of  con- 
formity fpring  up  in  the  heart  of  Man,  at  the  fight 
of  fome  ufcful  end,  which,  frequently,  has  no  manner  of 
relation  to  his  own  pcrfonal  wants  :  It  follows,  that  Man 
is  naturally  good,  for  this  very  reafon,  that  he  is  rational  ; 
feeino-  the  afpeft  alone  of  a  conformity,  though  entirely 
foreio-n  to  him,  communicates  a  fenfe  of  pleafure.  It  is 
from  this  natural  fcntlmcnt  of  ^^(jodnefs,  that  the  fight  of 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  7 

a  well  proportioned  animal  conveys  to  us  agreeable  fenfa- 
tions,  which  increafe  in  proportion  as  the  creature  un- 
folds its  inftinft.  We  love  to  fee  a  turtle,  even  in  an  avi- 
ary ;  but  that  bird  pleafes  Hill  more,  when  at  large  in  the 
foreft,  uttering  the  murmurs  of  love  from  the  top  of  an 
elm,  or  when  we  perceive  her  bufily  conftruding  in  it  a 
neft  for  her  young,  with  all  the  folicitude  of  maternal  ten- 
dernefs. 

Once  more,  it  is  from  a  refult  of  this  natural  goodnefs 
that  want  of  conformity  communicates  a  painful  fenfation, 
which  is  always  excited  at  fight  of  any  thing  incongruous. 
Thus  we  are  (hocked  on  looking  at  a  monfter.  It  gives 
us  pain  to  fee  an  animal  wanting  a  foot  or  an  eye.  This 
feeling  is  independent  of  every  idea  of  pain  relatively  to 
ourfelves,  let  Philofophers  fay  what  they  will  ;  for  we 
fuffer  in  fuch  a  cafe,  though  we  are  aflured  that  the  ani- 
mal came  into  the  world  in  that  defeftive  ftate.  We  are 
pained  at  the  fight  of  incongruity,  even  in  infenfible  ob- 
jefts.  Withered  plants,  mutilated  trees,  an  ill  alTorted 
edifice,  hurt  our  feelings.  Thefe  f^rlfations  are  pervert- 
ed, or  fupprefled,  in  Man,  only  by  prejudice,  or  by  edu- 
cation. 


OF  ORDER. 


A  ferles  of  conformities,  which  liave  a  common  centre, 
conftitutes  order.  There  are  conformities  in  the  members 
of  an  animal ;  but  order  exifts  only  in  the  body.  Conform- 
ity refers  to  the  detail,  and  order  to  the  combination.  Or- 
der extends  our  pleafure,  by  collefting  a  great  number  of 
conformities,  and  it  fixes  them,  by  giving  them  a  deter- 
mmation  toward  one  centre.  It  difcovers  to  us  at  once, 
in  a  fingle  objeft,  a  fucceflion  of  particular  conformities, 
and  the  leading  conformity  to  which  they  all  refer.  Thus, 
•rder  gives  us  pleafure,  as  beings  endowed   with  a  reafon 


*  A  VINDICATION  OF 

which  embraces  all  Nature  ;  and  it  pleafes  us  ftill  motH 
perhaps,  as  being  weak  and  limited  creatures,  capable  of 
taking  in  only  a  fingle  point  at  once. 

It  gives  us  pleafure,  for  example,  to  view  the  relations 
between  the  probofcis  of  a  bee,  and  the  neftareous  juices 
of  flowers  ;  between  thofe  of  her  thighs,  hollowed  into 
fpoons,  and  bri filed  with  hairs,  to  the  fine  powder  of  the 
ilamina  which  (he  there  collefts  ;  between  thofe  of  her 
four  wings,  to  the  booty  with  which  (he  is  loaded,  (a  re- 
fource  by  Nature  denied  to  flies  which  travel  without  a 
burthen,  and  which,  for  this  reafon,  are  furnifhed  with  two 
only*;)  finally,  the  ufe  of  a  long  fling,  which  flie  has  re- 
ceived for  the  defence  of  her  property,  and  all  the  confor- 
mities of  the  organs  ol  this  fmall  infeft,  which  are  more 
ingenious,  and  in  much  greater  number,  than  thofe  of  the 
largefl:  animals. 

But  the  interefl;  grows  upon  us,  when  we  fee  her  cov- 
ered all  over  with  a  yellow  powder,  her  thighs  pendent, 
and  half  opprefled  witli  her  burden,  direfting  her  flight 
through  the  air,  acrofs  plains,  rivers  and  fliady  groves^ 
under  points  of  the  wind,  with  which  fhe  is  well  acquaint- 
ed, and  alighting,  with  a  humming  found,  on  the  cavern- 
ous trunk  of  fome  aged  oak.  Here  again  we  perceive  a 
fucceffive  order,  on  feeing  a  great  multitude  of  little  indi- 
viduals, fimilar  to  her,  coming  out,  and  going  in,  accord- 
ing as  the  bufinefs  of  the  hive  may  require.  That  one, 
whofe  particular  conformities  We  have  been  admiring,  is 
only  a  fingle  member  of  a  numerous  Republic  ;  and  this 
Republic  itfelf  is  but  a  fmall  Colony,  of  the  immenfe  Na- 
tion of  bees,  fpread  over  the  whole  Earth,  from  the  Line 
up  to  the  fliorcs  of  the  frozen  Ocean. 

This  Nation,  again,  is  fiibdivided  into  different  fpe- 
cies,  conformably  to  the  various  fpecies  of  flowers  ;  for 

*  The  ichneumon,  or  aqtiatic  dragon  fly,  is,  in  like  manner,  provided 
with  four  wings,  becaufc  fhe  too  was  intended  to  fly  under  a  laad.  I 
have  f»cn  kcr  catch  butterflies  in  the  >ir. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE,  9 

there  are  fome  which,  being  deftined  to  live  on  flowers 
which  have  no  depth,  fuch  as  the  radiated,  are  armed  with 
five  hooks,  to  prevent  their  Aiding  on  the  petals.  Others, 
on  the  contrary,  fuch  as  the  bees  of  America,  have  no 
llingSj  becaufe  they  conftruft  their  hives  in  the  trunks  of 
prickly  trees,  which  are  very  common  in  that  part  of  the 
world  :  Such  trees,  accordingly,  are  their  prote-61:ion. 
There  are  many  other  conformities,  artiong  the  other  fpe- 
cies  of  bees,  with  which,  we  are  totally  unacquainted. 
Neverthelefs,  this  vaft  Nation,  fo  varied  in  its  colonies, 
and  whofe  pofTeffions  are  fo  extenfive,  is  but  one  little 
family  of  the  clafs  of  flies,  of  which  we  know,  in  our  owr> 
Climate  alone,  near  fix  thoufand  fpecies,  moft  of  them  as 
diftin6l  from  each  other,  as  to  forms  artd  inftin6fs,  as  bees 
themfelves  are  from  other  flies. 

If  we  were  to  compare  the  relations  of  this  volatile 
clafs,  fo  numerous  in  itfelf,  with  all  the  parts  of  the  veg- 
etable and  animal  kingdoms,  we  fhould  find  an  innumera- 
ble multitude  of  different  orders  of  conformity ;  and  were 
we  to  add  to  them,  thofe  which  are  prefented  to  us  in  the 
legions  of  butterflies,  fcarabs,  locufts,  and  other  infe6fs 
wliich  likewife  fly,  we  fhould  multiply  them  to  infinity. 
All  this,  flill,  would  be  but  a  fmall  matter,  compared  to 
the  various  induflry  of  the  other  infe61:s  which  crawl, 
which  leap,  which  fwim,  w^hich  climb,  which  walk,  which 
are  motionlefs  ;  the  number  of  thefe  is  incomparably 
greater  than  that  of  the  firfl :  xA.nd  the  hiflory  of  thefe 
lafl,  added  to  that  of  the  others,  would,  after  all,  be  the 
hiflory  of  only  one  puny  race  of  this  great  Republic  of 
the  World,  repleniflied  as  it  is  with  innumerable  fhoals 
of  fifties,  and  endlefs  legions  of  quadrupeds,  amphibious 
animals,  and  birds. 

All  their  clalfes,  with  their  divifions,  and  fubdivifions, 
the  minutefl  individual  of  which  prefents  a  very  exten- 
five fphere  of  conformities,  are  themfelves  only:  particu- 
lar conformities :     onlv    rays   and    points    in    the  general 

V©L,     II.  B    . 


40  A  VINDICATION  of 

fphere,  of  which  Man  alone  occupies  the  centre,  and  ap=* 
prehends  the  immenfity. 

From  a  fenfe  of  the  general  order,  two  other  fentiments 
obvioLifly  refult ;  the  one  which  throws  us  imperceptibly 
into  the  bofom  of  the  Deity,  and  the  other,  which  recals 
us  to  the  perception  of  our  wants ;  the  one  which  exhib- 
its to  us,  as  the  original  caufe,  a  Being  infinitely  intelli* 
gent,  without  us,  and  the  other,  as  the  ultimate  end,  a 
very  limited  being,  in  our  own  perfon.  Thefe  two  fenti- 
ments characterize  the  two  powers  of  which  Man  is  con- 
ftituted,  the  fpiritual  and  the  corporeal.  This  is  not  the 
place  to  unfold  thefe  :  It  is  fufficient  for  my  purpofe  to 
remark,  that  thefe  two  natural  fentiments  are  the  general 
fources  of  the  pleafure  which  we  derive  from  the  order  of 
Nature.  Animals  are  affefted  only  by  the  fecond,  and 
that  in  a  very  limited  degree. 

A  bee  has  a  fentiment  of  the  order  of  her  hive  ;  but  jfhe 
knows   nothing   beyond   that.     She   is  totally  ignorant  of 
the   order   which   regulates   the  ants  in  their  neft,  though 
fhe  may  have   frequently   feen  them  profecuting  their  la- 
bours.    To  no  purpofe  would  fhe  refort,  in  the  event  of 
Iier  hive's  being  deftroyed,  to  feek  retuge,  as  a  republican, 
in  the   midft  of  their  Republic.     To  no  purpofe,  in  the 
hour  of  diftrefs,  would  fhe  attempt  to  avail  herfelf  of  the 
qualities  which  fhe  has  in  common  with  them,  and  which 
make  communities  to  flourifh,   temperance,   a  difpofition 
to  induflry,  the   love  of  Country,  and,  above  all,  that  of 
equality,  united  to  fuperiour   talents  :    She  would    meet, 
from  them,  with  no  hofpitality,  no  confideration,  no  com- 
pafTion.     Nay,  fhe  would  not  find  an  afylum  even  among 
other  bees    of  a  different  fpecies  :    For  every  fpecies    has 
its  proper   fphere   afTigned   to   it,    and  this  by  an  effeSi  of 
the  wifdom  of  Nature  ;   for  if  it  were  otherwife,  the  beft 
organized  fpecies,  or  the   flrongefl,   would  expel  the  oth- 
ers from  their  domains.     Hence  it  follows,  that  the  focie- 
ty  of  animals  could  not  fubfifl   independent   of   the   pafv 
fi«ns,  nor  human  fociety  independent  of  virtue,     Man  a- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  n 

k)ne,  of  all  animals,  pofTefTes  the  fentiment  of  univerfal 
order,  which  is  that  of  the  Deity  himfelf ;  and  by  car- 
rying over  the  whole  Earth,  the  virtues  which  are  the 
fruits  of  it,  whatever  may  be  the  differences  which  preju- 
dice interpofes  between  man  and  man,  it  is  fure  of  allur- 
ing all  hearts  to  itfelf.  It  was  by  this  fentiment  of  uni- 
verfal order  which  governed  your  life,  that  you  have  be- 
come the  men  of  all  Nations,  and  that  you  intereft  us  ftill, 
even  when  you  are  no  longer  with  us,  Arijlides^  ^ocratcs^ 
Marcus  Aurelius,  divine  Fenelon,  and  you,  likdwife,  un- 
fortunate JoJm  J  allies  / 


HARMONY. 


Nature  oppofes  beings  to  each  other,  in  order  to  pro- 
duce between  them  agreeable  conformities.  This  Law 
has  been  acknowledged  from  the  higheft  Antiquity.  It 
is  to  be  found  in  many  paflages  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
I  produce  one  from  the  Book  of  Ecclefiafticus  :*  Omnia 
duplicia^  unum  contra  unum^  &  non  fecit  quidquam  deejfe. 
*'  All  things  are  double,  one  againlt  another ;  and  He 
**  hath  made  nothing  unperfeft  ;  One  thing  eftablifheth 
*'  the  good  of  another." 

I  confider  this  great  truth  as  the  key  of  all  Philofophy. 
It  has  likewife  been  fruitful  in  difcovery,  as  well  as  that 
other  ;  Notiiing  has  been  created  in  vain.  It  has  been  the 
fource  of  tafte  in  the  «rts  and  in  eloquence.  Out  of  con- 
traries arife  the  plcafures  of  vifion,  of  hearing,  of  touch- 
ing, of  tailing,  and  all  the  attraftions  of  beauty,  of  what- 
ever kind  it  may  b^e.  But  from  contraries,  likewife,  a- 
rife  uglinefs,  difcord,  and  all  the  fenfations  which  fill  us 
V/ith  difguft.     In  this  there  is  fomething  very  wonderful 

*  Eco^efiafticuS;  chap,  xlii.  vcr.  24,  25, 


1'^  A  VINDICATION  OF 

tliat  Nature  fhould  employ  the  fame  caufes  to  produce  ef- 
ie6i:s  fo  different.  When  (he  oppofes  contraries  to  each 
other,  painful  affe£lions  are  excited  in  us  ;  but  when  fhe 
blends  them,  we  are  agreeably  affefted.  From  the  oppo- 
fition  ot  contraries  fprings  difcord,  and  from  their  union 
refuks  harmony. 

Let  us  endeavour  to  find  in  Nature  fome  proofs  of  this 
great  Law.  Cold  is  the  oppofite  of  heat,  light  of  dark- 
nefs,  eariJi  of  water  ;  and  the  harmony  of  thefe  cpntraxy 
elements  produces  effects  the  moft  delightiul  :  But  if  cold 
fucceeds  rapidly  to  heat,  or  heat  to  cold,  moft  vegetables 
and  animals,  expofed  to  fuch  fudden  revolutions,  are  in 
danger  of  perifhing.  The  light  of  the  Sun  is  agreeable  ; 
but  if  a  black  cloud  fuddenly  intercepts,  or  bears  upon, 
the  luftre  of  his  rays,  or  if  a  gleaming  flame,  fuch  as  that 
of  lightning,  burfts  from  the  bofom  of  a  very  dark  night, 
the  eye,  in  both  thefe  cafes,  undergoes  a  painful  fenfatioij^ 
The  horror  ot"  a  thunder  ftorm  is  greatly  increafed,  if  the 
tremendous  explofions  are  interrupted  by  intervals  of  pro- 
found filence  ;  and  it  is  heightened  inexpreffibly,  if  the 
oppofitions,  of  thofe  celefliat  fires  and  obfcurities,  of  that 
tumult  and  tranquility,  make  therafelves  felt  in  the  gloom 
and  filence  of  night. 

Nature  oppofes,  in  like  manner,  at  fea,  the  white  foam 
of  the  billows  to  the  bhck  colour  of  the  rocks,  in  order 
to  announce  to  the  mariners  from  afar  the  danger  ot  (hal- 
lows. She  frequently  prefcnts  to  them  forms  analagous 
to  deftruclion,  fuch  as  thofe  of  ferocious  animals,  of  edi- 
fices in  ruins,  or  of  ihc  keels  of  (liips  turned  upward.  She 
even  cxtraBs  from  thefe  awful  lorms  hollow  noifes  re- 
fcmbling  groans,  and  broken  off  by  long  intervals  of  fi- 
lence. The  Ancients  believed  that  they  law  in  the  rock 
of  Scylla,  a  female  oi  a  hideous  form,  whufe  girdle  was 
furroundcd  by  a  pack  of  dogs,  whicli  barked,  inccffantly. 
Mariners  have  given  to  the  rocks  oi  the  Bahama  channel, 
fo  noted  for  fhipwrccks,  tlic  nan^eof  the  Maityrs^  becaufc 
they  prefent,  through  the  fpray  of  the  billows  which  break 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  15 

011  them,  the  horrid  fpeftacle  of  men  impaled,  and  expof- 
ed  on  wheels.  You  would  even  imagine,  that  you  heard 
fighs  and  fobbings  iffuing  from  thefe  difn^l  (hallows. 

Nature  employs,  in  like  manner,  thofe  clafliiiig  oppo, 
fitions,  and  thofe  omnious  figns,  to  exprefs  the  charafters 
of  favage  and  dangerous  animals  of  all  kinds.  The  lion 
Arolling,  by  night,  through  the  folitudes  of  Africa,  an- 
nounces his  approach  from  a  great  dijdance,  by  roarings, 
'which  have  a  ftrikingr  refemblance  to  the  rolling  of  thun- 
der. The  vivid  and  inftantaneous  flaflies  of  fire  which 
dart  from  his  eyes  in  the  dark,  exhibit,  befides,  the  ap-* 
pearance  of  that  formidable  meteor,  lightning.  During 
the  Winter  feafon,  the  bowlings  of  the  wolves  in  the  for- 
efts  of  the  North  refemble  the  whlftling  of  the  winds  as 
they  agitate  the  trees  ;  the  cries  of  birds  of  prey  are  fhrill, 
piercing,  and  now  and  then  interrupted  by  hollow  notes. 
Nay,  there  are  fome  which  emit  the  founds  of  a  human 
being  in  pain.  Such  is  the  lorn,  a  fpecies  of  feafowl, 
which  feeds  on  the  fhelvy  coalt  of  Lapland,"^  on  the  dead 
bodies  of  animals  which  are  there  put  afhore :  He  cries 
like  a  man  a  drowning. 

Noxious  infefts  exhibit  the  fame  oppofitions,  and  the 
fame  fignals  of  deftruftion.  The  gnat,  thirfling  after  hu- 
man blood,  announces  himfelf  to  the  eye,  by  the  v/hite 
points  with  which  his  brown  coloured  body  is  fludded, 
and  to  the  ear,  by  his  fhrill  notes,  which  diflurb  the  tran- 
quillity of  the  grove.  The  carnivorous  wafp  is  fpeckled, 
Jike  the  tiger,  with  black  ftripcs  on  a  yellow  ground.  You 
frequently  find  in  our  gardens,  about  the  roots  of  trees 
which  are  decaying,  a  fpecicvS  of  bug,  of  a  longifii  form, 
which  bears  on  its  red  body  marbled  with  black,  the  mafk 
of  a  death's  head.  Finally,  the  infefts  which  attack  our 
perfons  more  immediately,  however  fmall  they  mav  be, 
diflinguifh  themfelves  by  glaring  oppofitions  of  colour  to 
^he  field  on  which  they  fettle. 

<  See  John.  Schrjcr's  Hiaorv  of  I.aphna. 


t4  A  VINDICATION  Of 

But  when  tu-o  contraries  come  to  be  blended,  of  what- 
ever kind,  the  combination  produces  pleafure,  beauty  and 
harmony.  I  call  the  inftant,  and  the  point,  of  their  union, 
Harmonic  expreffioii.  This  is  the  only  principle  which  L 
have  been  able  to  perceive  in  Nature  ;  for  the  elements 
themfelves,  as  we  have  feen,  are  not  fimple  :  They  always 
prefent  accords  formed  of  two  contraries  to  analyfes  mul- 
tiplied without  end.  Thus,  to  refume  fome  of  the  inftan- 
ces  already  adduced,  the  gentleft  temperatures,  and  the 
moft  favourable,  in  general,  to  every  fpecies  of  vegetation, 
are  thofe  of  the  feafons  in  which  cold  is  blended  with 
heat,  as  in  the  Spring  and  Autumn.  They  are  then  pro- 
duftive  of  two  faps  in  trees,  which  the  ftrongeft  heats  of 
Summer  do  not  efFeft.  The  moft  agreeable  produ61ion 
of  light  and  darknefs  are  perceptible  at  thofe  feafons  when 
they  melt  into  each  other,  and  form  what  Painters  call  the 
clear  oh/cure  and  half  lights.  For  this  reafon  it  is,  that 
the  moft  interefting  hours  of  the  day  are  thofe  of  morning 
and  evening  :  Thofe  hours,  when,  in  the  beautiful  imag- 
ery of  La  Fontaine^  in  his  charming  fable  of  Pyramus 
and  Thijbe,  the  fhade  and  the  light  ftrive  for  the  maftery 
in  the  azure  fields.  The  moft  lovely  profpe6ls  are  thofe 
in  which  land  and  water  are  loft  in  each  other  ;  this  fug- 
gefted  that  obfervation  of  honeft  Plutarch  ;  namely,  that 
the  pleafanteft  land  journies  are  thofe  which  we  make  a- 
long  the  fhore  of  the  fea ;  and  the  moft  delightful  voyages 
thofe  which  are  a  coafting  along  the  land.  You  will  ob- 
fcrve  thefe  fame  harmonies  refult  from  favours  and  founds 
the  moft  oppofite,  in  the  pleafures  of  the  palate,  and  o-f 
the  ear. 

We  fhall  proceed  to  examine  the  uniformity  of  this 
Law,  in  the  vcrv  principles  by  v/hich  Nature  gives  us  the 
rirft  fenfations  of  her  works,  which  arc  colours,  forms  and 
^notions. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  is 


Of  Colours* 


I  ihall  be  carefully  on  my  guard  not  to  give  a  defini* 
lion  of  colours,  and  ftill  more,  not  to  attempt  an  expiana^- 
tion  of  their  origin.  Colours  are,  as  Naturalifls  tell  us, 
refraftions  of  the  light  on  bodies,  as  is  demonftated  by  the 
prifm,  which,  by  breaking  a  ray  of  the  Sun,  decompounds 
it  into  feven  coloured  rays,  which  difplay  themfelves  in 
the  following  order  ;  red,  orange,  yellow,  green,  blue,  in- 
digo and  violet.  Thefe  are,  as  they  will  have  it,  the  feven 
primitive  colours.  But,  as  has  been  already  obferved. 
We  do  not  know  what  is  primitive  in  Nature.  I  might 
objeft  to  them,  that  if  the  colours  of  objeHs  are  produced 
only  from  the  refraftion  of  the  light  of  the  Sun,  they 
ought  to  difappear  at  the  light  of  a  taper,  for  the  light  of 
a  taper  is  not  decompounded  by  the  prifm  :  But  I  fliall 
confine  myfelf  to  a  few  reflexions  refpefting  the  number, 
and  the  order  of  thofe  feven  pretended  primitive  colours. 

Firft,  it  i^  evident  that  four  of  thefe  are  compounded  ; 
for  orange  is  made  up  of  yellow  and  red  ;  green,  of  yeU 
low  and  blue  ;  violet,  of  blue  and  red  ;  and  indigo  is  noth- 
ing more  than  a  tint  of  blue  furcharged  which  black.  This 
reduces  the  folar  colours  to  three  primordial  ;  namely, 
yellow,  red  and  blue  ;  to  which  if  we  add  white,  which  is 
the  colour  of  light,  and  black,  which  is  the  privation  of 
it,  we  (hall  have  five  fimple  colours  with  which  may  be 
compounded  all  imaginable  fhades  of  colour. 

I  muft  here  obferve,  that  our  philofophicai  machinery 
deceives  us  with  its  afFeftation  of  fuperior  ietelligence, 
not  only  becaufe  it  afcribes  falfe  elements  to  Nature,  as 
when  the  prifm  difplays  compound  for  primitive  colours, 
but  by  Gripping  her  of  fuch  as  are  true  ;  for  how  many 
white  and  black  bodies  mud  be  reckoned  colourlefs,  con* 


16  A  VlNDICATlOxM  OF 

fidering  that  this  fame  prifm  does  not  exhibit  their  tints 
in  the  decompofition  of  the  foljr  ray  ! 

This  inflrumcnt  leads  us  farther  into  an  error  refpeft- 
ing  the  natural  order  of  thefe  very  colours,  by  making 
the  red  ray  the  firfl  irt  the  feries,  and  the  violet  ray  the 
laft.  The  order  of  colours  in  the  prifm,  therefore,  is  on- 
ly a  triangular  decompofition  of  a  ray  of  cylindrical  light, 
the  two  extremes  of  which,  red  and  violet,  participate 
the  one  of  the  other,  without  terminating  it ;  fo  that  the 
principle  of  colours,  which  is  the  white  ray  and  its  pro- 
grelTive  decompofition,  is  no  longer  manifefted  in  it.  I 
am  very  much  difpofed  to  believe,  that  it  is  even  poflible 
to  cut  a  chryftal  with  fuch  a  number  of  angles,  as  would 
give  to  the  refra6lions  of  the  folar  ray  an  order  entirely 
different,  and  would  multiply  the  pretended  primitive 
colours  far  beyond  the  number  of  feven.  The  authority 
of  fuch  a  polyedron  would  become  altogether  as  refpefta- 
ble  as  that  of  the  prifm,  if  the  Algebraills  were  to  apply 
to  it  a  few  calculations,  fomewhat  obfcure,  with  a  feafon- 
ing  of  the  ratiocination  of  the  corpufcular  philofophy,  as 
they  have  done  with  regard  to  the  effefts  of  the  triangular 
inflrument. 

We  fhall  employ  a  method,  not  quite  fo  learned,  to 
convey  an  idea  of  the  generation  of  colours,  and  of  thtf 
decompohtion  of  the  folar  ray.  In  (lead  of  examining 
them  in  a  prifm  of  glafs,  we  fhall  confider  them  in  the 
Heavens,  and  there  we  ihall  behold  the  five  primordial 
colours  untold  thcmielves  in  the  order  which  we  have  in- 
dicated. 

In  a  fine  fummer's  night,  when  the  fky  is  fercne,  and 
loaded  only  with  fome  light  vapours,  fufficient  to  flop^ 
and  to  refraft,  the  rays  of  the  Sun,  as  they  traverfe  the 
extremities  of  our  Atmofphere,  walk  out  into  an  open 
plain,  where  the  firfl  fires  oH  Aurora  may  be  perceptible. 
You  will  firft  obferve  the  Horizon  whiten  at  the  fpot 
where  Ihe  is  to  make  her  appearance;  and  this  kind  of 
radiance,   from  its   colour,   has   procured   for    it.   in   the 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  17 

^French  language,  the  name  of  aube  (the  dawn)  from  the 
Latin  wcird  alba,  which  fignifies  white.  This  whitenefs 
infenfibly  afccnds  in  the  Heavens,  and  aflumes  a  tint  of 
yellow,  fome  degrees  above  the  Horizon  ;  the  yellow,  as 
it  rifes  fome  degrees  higher,  paffes  into  orange  ;  and  this 
fhade  of  orange  rifes  upward  into  the  lively  vermilion, 
which  extends  as  far  as  the  Zenith.  From  that  point  you 
will  perceive  in  the  Heavens,  behind  you,  the  violet  fuc- 
ceeding  the  vermillion,  then  the  azure,  after  it  the  deep 
blue  or  indigo  colour,  and  laft  of  all,  the  black  quite  to 
the  wellward. 

Though  this  difplay  of  colours  prefents  an  infinite  mul- 
titude of  intermediate  fhades,  which  fucceed  each  other 
with  confiderable  rapidity,  neverthelefs,  there  is  a  mo- 
ment, and,  if  my  recolleftion  of  it  be  accurate,  it  is  the 
moment  when  the  Sun  is  juft  going  to  exhibit  his  diflc, 
that  the  dazzling  white  is  vifible  in  the  Horizon,  the 
pure  yellow,  at  an  elevation  of  fortyfive  degrees  ;  the  fire 
colour,  in  the  Zenith ;  the  pure  blue,  fortyfive  degrees 
under  it,  toward  the  Weft;  and,  in  the  very  Weft,  the 
dark  veil  of  night  ftill  lingering  on  the  Horizon.  At 
leaft,  1  think,  I  have  remarked  this  progreflion  between 
the  Tropics,  where  there  is  fcarcely  any  horizontal  refrac- 
tion to  make  the  light  prematurely  incroach  on  the  dark- 
nefs,  as  in  our  Climates. 

jf,  J.  Roujfeau  obferved  to  me  one  day,  that  though  the 
field  of  thofe  celeftial  colours  be  blue,  the  yellow  tints 
which  melt  away  into  it,  do  not  produce  by  that  mixture 
the  colour  of  green,  as  is  tlie  cafe  in  our  material  colours, 
when  thefe  two  fhades  are  blended.  But,  I  replied,  that  I 
had  frequently  perceived  green  in  the  Heavens,  not  only 
between  the  Tropics,  but  over  the  Horizon  of  Paris. 
That  colour,  in  truth,  is  hardly  ever  feen  with  us,  but  in 
fome  fine  Summer  evenings.  I  have  likewife  feen,  in 
the  clouds  of  the  Tropics,  all  the  colours  perceptible  on 
the  earth,  particularly  at  fea,  and  in  ftormy  weather. 
You  may  then  fee  fome  of  them  copper  coloured,  fome 
VOL.   II.  e 


i8  A  VINDICATION  of 

of  the  colour  of  the  fmoke  of  a  tobacco  pipe,  fome  hrown, 
reddifh,  black,  grey,  chefnut,  livid,  the  colour  of  a  heated 
oven's  mouth.  As  to  thofe  which  appear  there  in  fine 
weather,  fome  are  fo  lively  and  brilliant,  that  no  palace 
can  exhibit  any  thing  to  vie  with  them,  were  it  enriched 
with  all  the  gems  of  the  Great  Mogul. 

Sometimes  the  trade  winds,  from  the  Northeaft,  or 
Southeaft,  which  conftantly  blow  there,  card  the  clouds 
through  each  other,  like  fo  many  tufts  of  filk ;  then  fweep 
them  away  to  the  Well,  crofling  and  recrofling  them  over 
one  another,  like  the  ofiers  interwoven  in  a  tranfparent 
bafket.  They  throw  over  the  fides  of  this  chequered 
work,  the  clouds  which  are  not  employed  in  the  contex- 
ture, and  which  are  in  no  fmall  number,  roll  them  up  int© 
enormous  mafles,  as  w^hite  as  fnow,  draw  them  out  along 
their  extremities  in  form  of  a  crupper,  and  pile  them  upon 
each  other,  like  the  Cordeliers,  of  Peru,  moulding  them 
into  the  ftiape  of  mountains,  of  caverns,  and  of  rocks  ; 
afterwards,  as  evening  approaches,  they  grow  fomewhat 
calm,  as  if  afraid  of  deranging  their  own  workmanfliip. 
When  the  Sun  comes  to  fet  behind  this  magnificent  net- 
ting, you  fee  a  multitude  of  luminous  rays  tranfmitted 
through  each  particular  interftice,  which  produce  fuch  an 
effeft,  that  the  two  fides  of  the  lozenge  illuminated  by 
them,  have  the  appearance  of  being  begirt  with  a  fillet  of 
gold,  and  the  other  two,  which  are  in  the  fliade,  feem 
tinged  with  a  fuperb  ruddy  orange.  Four  or  five  diver- 
gent ftreams  of  light,  emanated  from  the  fetting  Sun  up 
to  the  Zenith,  clothe  with  fringes  of  gold,  the  undeterm- 
inate  fummits  of  this  celcftial  barrier,  and  proceed  to  ftrike 
with  the  reflexes  of  their  fires  the  pyramids  of  the  collat- 
eral aerial  mountains,  which  then  appear  to  confift  of  fil- 
ver  and  vermillion.  At  this  moment  of  the  evening  are 
perceptible,  amidlt  their  redoubled  ridges,  a  multitude  of 
valleys  extending  into  infinity,  and  diftinguifhing  them- 
felves  at  their  opening  by  fome  {hade  of  flefh,  or  of  rofe 
colour. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  ,9 

Thofe  celeftial  valleys  prefent,  in  their  different  contours, 
inimitable  tints  of  white,  melting  away  into  white,  or 
(hades  lengthening  themfelves  out,  without  mixing  over 
other  fhades.  You  fee,  here  and  there,  iffuing  from  the 
cavernous  fides  of  thofe  mountains,  tides  of  light  precip- 
itating themfelves  in  ingots  of  gold  and  fih^er,  over  rocks 
of  coral.  Here  it  is  a  gloomy  rock,  pierced  through  and 
through,  difclofing,  beyond  the  aperture,,  the  pure  azure 
of  the  firmament ;  there  it  is  an  extenfive  ftrand,  covered 
with  fands  of  gold,  ftretching  over  the  rich  ground  of 
Heaven ;  poppy  coloured,  fcarlet,  and  green  as  the  em- 
erald. 

The  reverberation  of  thofe  weftern  colours  diffufes  itfelf 
over  the  Sea,  wbofe  azure  billows  it  glazes  with  faffron 
and  purple.  The  mariners,  leaning  over  the  gunwale  of 
the  fhip,  admire  in  filence  thofe  aerial  landfcapes.  Some- 
times this  fublime  fpeftacle  prefents  itfelf  to  them  at  the 
hour  of  prayer,  and  feems  to  invite  them  to  lift  up  their 
hearts  with  their  voices  to  the  Heavens.  It  changes  its 
appearance  every  inftant :  What  was  juft  now  luminous 
becomes  in  a  moment  coloured,  fimply  ;  and  what  is  now- 
coloured  will,  by  and  by,  be  in  the  fliade.  The  forms 
are  as  variable  as  the  fhades ;  they  are,  by  turns,  iflands, 
hamlets,  hills  clothed  with  the  palm  tree  ;  vail  bridges 
ftretching  over  rivers,  fields  of  gold,  of  amethyfls,  of 
rubies,  or  rather,  nothing  of  all  this ;  they  are  celeftial 
colours  and  forms  which  no  pencil  can  pretend  to  im- 
itate,   and  which  no  language  can  defcribe. 

It  is  very  remarkable,  that  all  travellers  who  have,  at 
various  feafons,  afcended  to  the  fummits  of  the  higheft 
mountains  on  the  Globe,  between  the  Tropics,  and  be- 
yond them,  in  the  heart  of  the  Continent,  or  in  Iflands, 
never  could  perceive,  in  the  clouds  below  them,  any  thing 
but  a  gray  and  lead  coloured  furface,  without  any  varia- 
tion whatever  as  to  colour,  being  always  fimilar  to  that  of 
*  lake.  The  Sun,  notwithftanding,  illuminated  thofe 
clQuds  witji  his   whole   light ;  and  his  rays  might  there 


20  A  VINDICATION  or 

combine,  without  obflruftion,  all  the  laws  of  refratlioR 
to  which  our  fyftems  of  Phyfics  have  fubjefted  them. 
From  this  obfervation  it  follows,  and  I  fhall  repeat  it  in 
another  place,  becaufe  of  its  importance,  that  there  is  not 
a  fingle  lliade  of  colour  employed  in  vain,  through  the 
whole  extent  of  the  Univerfe ;  that  thofe  celeftial  decora- 
tions were  made  for  the  level  of  the  Earth,  and  that  their 
magnificent  point  of  view  is  taken  from  the  habitation  of 
Man. 

Thefe  admirable  concerts  of  lights  and  forms,  which 
manifeft  themfelves  only  in  the  lower  region  of  the  clouds, 
the  leaft  illuminated  by  the  Sun,  are  produced  by  laws, 
"with  which  I  am  totally  unacquainted.  But  let  their  va- 
riety be  what  it  may,  the  whole  are  reducible  to  five  col- 
ours ;  yellow  appears  to  be  a  generation  from  white  ;  red 
a  deeper  fhade  of  yellow ;  blue,  a  tint  of  red  greatly 
Itrengthened ;  and  black,  the  extreme  tint  of  blue.  It  is 
impofiible  to  entertain  a  doubt  refpefting  this  progrelTion, 
if  you  obferve,  in  the  morning,  as  I  have  mentioned,  the 
expanfion  of  light  in  the  Heavens.  You  there  fee  thofe 
five  colours,  with  their  intermediate  fhades,  generating 
each  other  nearly  in  this  order  :  White,  fulphur  yellow, 
lemon  yellow,  yolk  of  egg  yellow,  orange,  Aurora  colour, 
poppy  red,  full  red,  carmine  red,  purple,  violet,  azure,  in- 
digo, and  black.  Each  of  thofe  colours  feems  to  be 
only  a  ftrong  tint  of  that  which  precedes  it,  and  a  faint 
tint  of  that  which  follows  ;  thus  the  whole  together  ap- 
pear to  be  only  modulations  of  a  progieflion,  of  which 
white  is  the  firft  term,  and  black  the  laft. 

In  this  order,  whereof  the  two  extremes,  white  and 
black,  that  is,  light  and  darknefs,  produce,  in  harmoniz- 
ing, fo  many  dilferent  colours,  you  will  remark,  that  the 
red  colour  holds  the  middle  place,  and  that  it  is  the  moft 
beautiful  of  the  whole,  in  the  judgment  of  all  Nations. 
The  Ruffians,  when  they  would  defcribe  a  beautiful  girl^ 
fay  fhe  is  red.  They  call  her  crajlna  devitfa  :  Red  and 
Ipcautiiul  being  with  them  fynonimous  terms.     In  Mexi-. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  21 

GO  and  Peru,  red  was  held  in  very  high  eftimation.  The 
moft  magnificent  prefent  which  the  Emperor  Monte, 
zeuma  could  devife  for  Cortez,  was  a  necklace  of  lobfters, 
which  naturally  had  that  rich  colour.*  The  only  demand 
made  upon  the  Spaniards  by  the  King  of  Sumatra,  on 
their  firft  landing  in  his  country,  and  prefenting  him  with 
many  famples  of  the  commerce  and  induftry  of  Europe, 
was  fome  corals,  and  fcarlet  coloured  fluffs  ;+  and  he 
promifed  to  give  them,  in  return,  all  the  fpiceries,  and  oth- 
er merchandife,  of  India,  for  which  they  might  have  oc- 
^afion. 

There  is  no  fuch  thing  as  carrying  on  trade,  to  any  ad- 
vantage, with  the  Negroes,  the  Tartars,  the  Am.ericans, 
and  the  Eaft  Indians,  but  through  the  medium  of  red  cloths. 
The  teftimonies  of  travellers  are  unanimous  refpefling 
the  preference  univerfally  given  to  this  colour.  Of  this 
I  could  produce  proofs  innumerable,  were  I  not  afraid  of 
being  tedious.  I  have  indicated  the  univerfality  of  this 
tafte,  merely  in  the  view  of  demonftrating  the  falfhood  of 
the  philofophic  axiom  which  afferts,  that  taftes  are  arbi- 
trary, or  which  amounts  to  the  fame  thing,  that  th  ere  are 
in  Nature  no  laws  for  beauty,  and  t"hat  our  taftes  are  the 
effefts  of  prejudice.  The  direft  contrary  of  this  is  the 
truth;  it  is  prejudice  that  corrupts  our  natural  taftes, 
which  would  otherwife  be  the  fame  over  the  whole  Earth. 
From  a  prejudice  of  this  kind,  the  Turks  prefer  green  to 
every  other  colour,  becaufe,  according  to  the  tradition  of 
their  Theologians,  this  was  the  favourite  colour  of  Ma- 
homet^ and  his  defcendents  alone,  of  all  the  Turks,  have 
ihe  privilege  of  wearing  the  green  turban. 

But  from  a  fimilar,  though  oppofite  prejudice,  the 
Perfians,  their  neighbours,  defpife  green,  becaufe  they  re- 
je6l  the  traditions  of  thofe  Turkifti  Theologians,  and,  ac- 
cordingly, do  not  acknowledge  that  confanguinity  of  their 
jPrpphet,  being  followers  of  AH, 

*  See  Herrera. 
f  See  General  Hiijory  of  Voyages  by  the  Abbe  ^ra'ojh. 


22  A  VINDICATION  or 

From  another  chimera,  yellow  appears  to  the  Chinefe 
the  moft  diftinguiflied  of  all  colours,  becaufe  it  is  that  of 
their  emblematical  dragon.  Yellow  is,  in  China,  the  im- 
perial colour,  as  green  is  in  Turkey.  The  Chinefe,  nev^- 
crthclefs,  if  we  may  depend  on  the  authority  of  I/brants 
Ides^  reprefent  their  Gods  and  Heroes,  on  the  ftage,  with 
their  faces  flained  a  blood  colour.*  All  thefe  Nations, 
the  political  colour  excepted,  confider  red  as  the  moft 
beautiful,  which  is  fufficient  to  eftablifh  with  refpe6l  to 
it,  an  unanimity  of  preference. 

But,  without  dwelling  longer  on  the  variable  teftimony 
of  Man,  we  have  only  to  appeal  to  that  of  Nature.  It  is 
with  red  that  Nature  heightens  the  moft  brilliant  parts  of 
the  moft  beautiful  flowers.  She  has  given  a  complete 
clothing  of  it  to  the  rofe,  the  Queen  of  the  Garden  :  She 
has  beftowed  this  tint  on  the  blood,  which  is  the  princi- 
ple of  life  in  animals  ;  She  inverts  moft  of  the  feathered 
race,  in  India,  with  a  plumage  of  this  colour,  efpecially 
in  the  feafon  of  love.  There  are  very  few  birds,  on 
which  fhe  does  not  then  beftow  fome  fhades,  at  leaft,  of 
this  rich  hue.  Some  have  their  heads  covered  with  it, 
fuch  as  thofe  which  are  called  Cardinals  ;  others  have  a 
breaft  plate  of  it,  a  necklace,  a  capuchin,  a  Ihoulder  knot. 
There  are  fome  which  preferve  entirely  the  gray,  or 
brown  ground  of  their  plumage,  but  glazed  over  with  red, 
as  if  they  had  been  rolled  in  carmine.  Others  are  be- 
fprinkled  with  red,  as  if  you  had  blown  a  fcarlet  powder 
over  them.  Together  with  this  fome  have  a  mixture  of 
fmall  white  points,  which  produces  a  charming  effeft. 
A  little  bird  of  India,  called  Bengaliy  is  painted  in  this 
manner. 

But  nothing  can  be  more  lovely  than  a  turtledove  of 
Africa,  wlio  bears  on  her  pearl  gray  plumage,  precifely 
over  the  place  of  the  heart,  a  bloody  fpot  confifting  of 
dificrent  kinds  of  red  blended,    perfeftly   rcfembling  a 

•  Journey  from  Mofcow,  to  Cljina,  page  141. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  ^25 

Vound  :  It  feems  as  if  this  bird,  dedicated  to  Love,  was  def- 
tined  to  wear  her  mafter's  livery,  and  had  ferved  as  a  mark 
to  his  arrows.  What  is  ftill  more  wonderful,  thefe  rich 
coraline  tints  difappear  in  moft  of  thofe  birds  as  foon  as 
the  feafon  of  love  is  over,  as  if  they  were  robes  of  cere- 
mony, lent  them  by  the  benevolence  of  Nature,  only  dur- 
ing the  celebration  of  their  nuptials. 

The  red  colour,  fituated  in  the  midft  of  the  five  primor- 
dial colours,  is  the  harmonic  expreflion  of  them,  by  way 
of  excellence  ;  and  the  refult,  as  has  been  faid,  of  the- 
union  of  two  contraries,  light  and  darknefs.  There  are, 
befides,  tints  extremely  agreeable,  compounded  of  the  op- 
pofitions  of  extremes.  For  example,  of  the  fecond  and 
fourth  colour,  that  is,  of  yellow  and  blue,  is  formed  green, 
which  conftitutes  a  very  beautiful  harmony,  and  which 
ought,  perhaps,  to  pofTefs  the  fecond  rank  in  beauty, 
among  colours,  as  it  pofFelTes  the  fecond  in  their  genera- 
tion. Nay,  green  appears,  in  the  eyes  of  many  perfons, 
if  not  the  moft  beautiful  tint,  at  leaft  the  moft  lovely,  be- 
caufe  it  is  iefs  dazzling  than  red,  and  more  congenial  to 
the  eye.* 

•*  It  is  harmony  which  renders  every  thing  perceptible,  juft  as  monotony 
makes  every  thing  to  difappear.  Nofonly  are  colours  the  harmonic  confo- 
nances  of  light  ;  But  there  is  no  one  coloured  body  whofe  tint  Nature  does 
not  heighten  by  the  contrail  of  the  two  extreme  generative  colours,  which 
«re  white  and  black.  Every  body  detaches  itfelf  by  means  of  light  and 
fhade,  the  firft  of  which  is  akin  to  the  white,  and  the  fecond  to  the  black. 
Every  body,  accordingly,  bears  upon  it  a  complete  harmony. 

This  is  not  the  effeft  of  chance.  Were  we  enlightened,  for  example,  by 
a  luminous  air,  we  fhould  not  perceive  the  form  of  bodies  ;  far  their  out- 
lines, their  profiles,  and  their  cavities,  would  be  overfpread  with  an  uni- 
form light,  which  would  caufe  their  prominent  and  retreating  parts  t©  dif- 
appear. With  a  providence,  therefore,  completely  adapted  to  the  weak- 
uefs  of  our  vifion,  the  Author  of  Nature  has  made  the  light  to  iffue  from 
a  fingle  point  of  Heaven  :  And  with  an  intelligence  that  equally  challenge* 
©ur  admiration,  He  has  given  a  motion  of  progreflion  to  the  Sun,  who  ia 
the  fource  of  that  light,  in  order  to  form,  with  the  fiiades,  harmonies  vary- 
ing every  inftant.  He  has  likewife  modified  that  light,  on  terreftrial  objefts, 
»  fach  a  raafluer,  as  t»illuniinate  both  immediately  and  mediately,  by  re* 


64  A  VINDICATlOxM  OF 

I  fliall  infift  no  longer  on  the  other  harmonic  fiiadef 
which  may  be  deduced,  in  conformity  to  the  laws  of  their 
generation,  from  colours  the  mofl  oppofite  ;  and  of  which 
might  be  formed  accor<is  and  concerts,  fuch  as  Father 
Cafiel  produced  from  his  celebrated  Harpfichord.  1  muft, 
however,  remark,  that  colours  may  have  a  powerful  in- 
fluence on  the  paflions  ;  and  that  they,  as  well  as  their 
harmonies,  may  be  referred  to  the  moral  afFeclions.  For 
example,  making  red  the  point  of  departure,  which  is  the 
harmonic  colour  fupereminently,  and  proceeding  toward 
white  in  an  afcending  progreflion,  the  nearer  you  ap- 
proach to  this  firft  term,  the  more  lively  and  gay  are  the 
colours.  You  will  have  in  fucceffion  the  poppy,  the  or- 
ange, the  yellow,  the  lemon,  the  fulphur,  the  white. 
On  the  contrary,  the  farther  you  proceed  from  red  to- 
ward black,  the  fadder  and  more  lugubrious  are  the  col- 
ours ;  for  this  is  the  progreflion  ;  purple,  violet,  blue, 
indigo  and  black. 

In  the  harmonies  which  may  be  formed,  on  both  fides, 
by  the  union  of  oppofite  colours,  the  more  that  the  tints 
of  the  afcending  progreflion  predominate,  the  more  lively 

fraRion   and  by  refleftlon,  and  to  extend  its  tints,  and  its  harmonies,  with 
thofe  of  fhade,  in  a  way  that  no  words  can  exprefs. 

y.  y.  Roufeau  one  day  made  this  obfervation  :  *'  Painters  can  give  the 
**  appearance  of  a  body  in  relief,  to  a  fmooth  furface  ;  I  fhould  be  very 
*'  glad  to  fee  them  give  the  appearance  of  a  fmooth  furface  to  a  raifed 
"  body."  I  made  no  reply  at  the  moment  ;  but  having  fmce  reflefted  oil 
the  folution  of  this  problem  in  optics,  I  by  no  means  confider  the  thing  as 
impoffible.  The  whole  that  is  necefTary,  according  to  my  idea,  is  to  dc- 
ftroy  one  of  the  harmonic  extremes  which  render  bodies  prominent.  For 
inftance,  if  the  objefl  aimed  at  were  to  flatten  a  bafs  relief,  it  would  be 
neceflary  to  paint  the  cavities  white,  or  the  prominent  parts  black.  Ac- 
cordingly, as  they  employ  the  harmony  of  the  dare  obfcure,  to  give  the 
ippearance  of  a  folid  body  to  a  plane  furface,  they  might  employ  the  mo- 
notony of  one  fingle  tint,  to  make  what  is  aftually  raifed  and  folid  to  dif- 
appear,  and  become  to  the  eye  a  plane  furface.  In  the  firft  cafe,  paint- 
ing renders  that  vifiblc  which  is  not  tangible  ;  in  the  fecond,.  we  fhould 
have  a  body  that  might  be  touched,  without  being  vifible.  This  laft  d«- 
•cpfioB  would  be  fully  as  furprifmjas  the  other. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  25 

Will  be  the  harmonies  produced  ;  and  the  contrary  will 
take  place,  in  proportion  as  the  colours  of  the  defcending 
harmony  fliall  prevail.  From  this  harmonic  effeft  it  is, 
that  green,  being  compounded  of  yellow  and  blue,  is  fo 
much  more  gay,  as  the  yellow  has  the  afcendant,  and  fad 
in  proportion  as  the  blue  predominates. 

Farther,  from  this  harmonic  influence  it  is,  that  white 
transfufes  moft  gaiety  into  all  other  tints,  becaufe  it  is 
light  itfelf.  Nay,  it  produces,  from  oppofition,  a  moft 
delightful  efFeft  in  the  harmonies,  which  I  call  melancho- 
ly ;  for,  blended  with  violet,  it  gives  the  delicious  hue  of 
the  lilach  flower  ;  mixed  with  blue,  it  makes  azure  ;  and 
with  black,  produces  pearl  gray  ;  but  melted  away  into 
red,  it  exhibits  the  rofe  colour,  that  enchanting  tint, 
which  is  the  flower  of  life.  On  the  other  hand,  accord- 
ing to  the  predominance  of  black  in  colours  which  are 
gay,  the  efTeft  produced  is  more  mournful  than  would 
have  refulted  from  unmixed  black.  This  becomes  per- 
ceptible on  blending  it  with  yellow,  orange  and  red, 
which  are  thereby  rendered  dull  and  gloomy  colours. 
Red  gives  life  to  every  tint  into  which  it  is  infufed,  as 
white  communicates  gaiety,  and  black  fadnefs. 

If  you  would  wifh  to  produce  efFefts  entirely  oppofite 
to  moft  of  thofe  which  I  have  been  juft  indicating,  you 
have  only  to  place  the  extreme  colours  clofely  by  each 
other,  without  mingling  them.  Black,  oppofed  to  white, 
produces  the  moft  mournful,  and  the  harfheft  efre61:. 
Their  oppofition  is  a  badge  of  mourning  among  moft  Na- 
tions, as  it  is  the  fignal  of  impending  deftruaion  in  the 
tempeftuous  appearances  of  the  Heavens,  and  in  the  com- 
motions of  the  Ocean.  The  yellow  too,  oppofed  to  black, 
is  the  charaaeriftic  of  many  dangerous  animals,   as  the 

wafp,  the  tyger,   and  feveral  others I  do  not  pretend  to 

infinuate,  that  the  women  have  not  the  fkill  of  employing 
to  advantage,  in  their  drefs,  thofe  oppofite  colours ;  but 
they  are  called  in  as  an  embellifhment  only  on  account  of 
the  contrafts   which  they   form  with  the  colour  of  their 

VOL.    II.  D 


26  A  VINDICATION  of 

complexion  ;  and  as  the  red  predominates  there,  it  fol* 
lows  that  the  oppofite  colours  are  advantageous  to  them, 
for  harmonic  expreflion  is  never  ftronger,  than  when  found 
between  the  two  extremes  which  produce  it.  We  ihall 
offer  a  few  thoughts  hereafter  on  this  part  of  harmony, 
when  we  come  to  fpeak  of  contrafts,  and  of  the  human 
figure. 

It  would  be  ridiculous  to  affeft  ignorance  of  the  ob- 
je£lions  which  may  be  flarted  againft  the  univerfality  of 
thefe  principles.  We  have  reprefented  white  as  a  gay, 
and  black  as  a  fad  colour.  Neverthelefs,  certain  Negro 
Nations  reprefent  the  Devil  as  white  ;  The  inhabitants  of 
the  Peninfula  of  India,  in  token  of  mourning,  rub  their 
forehead  and  temples  with  the  powder  of  fandalwood, 
the  colour  of  which  is  a  yellowilh  white.  The  Navigator 
La  Barhinois,  who,  in  his  voyage  round  the  world,  has  as 
well  defcribed  the  manners  of  China,  as  thofe  of  our  fea^ 
officers,  and  of  feveral  European  Colonies,  fays,  that 
white  is  the  colour  of  mourning  among  the  Chinefe. 
From  thefe  inftances  it  might  be  concluded,  that  the 
feeling  of  colour  mufl  be  arbitrary,  as  it  is  not  the  fame 
in  all  Nations. 

I  venture  to  offer  the  following  reply  to  thefe  objec- 
tions. It  has  already  been  proved  by  evidence,  that  the 
Nations  of  Africa  and  Afia,  however  black  they  may  be, 
prefer  white  women  to  thofe  of  every  other  tint.  If  there 
be  any  Negro  Nations  who  paint  the  Devil  white,  this 
may  be  eafily  accounted  for,  from  the  ftrong  feeling  which 
they  have  of  the  tyranny  which  the  whites  exercife  over 
them.  White,  accordingly,  having  become  with  them  a 
political  colour,  ceafes  to  be  a  natural  one.  Befides,  the 
white  in  which  they  paint  their  Devil  is  not  a  white, 
beautifully  harmonious,  like  that  of  the  human  figure: 
But  a  dead  white,  a  chalk  white,  fuch  as  that  with  which 
our  painters  illuminate  the  figures  of  phantoms  and  ghofts 
in  their  magical  and  infernal  fcenes. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  g; 

If  this  dazzling  colour  is  the  expreflion  of  mourning 
among  the  Indians  and  Chinefe,  the  reafon  is,  it  contrails 
harihly  with  the  black  fkin  of  thofe  Nations.  The  In- 
dians are  black.  The  fkin  of  the  fouthern  Chinefe  is 
much  fun  burnt.  They  derive  their  religion  and  their 
leading  cuftoms  from  India,  the  cradle  of  the  Human 
Race,  the  inhabitants  of  which  are  black.  Their  out- 
ward garments  are  of  a  gloomy  colour  :  A  great  part  of 
their  drefs  confifts  of  black  fattin  ;  the  covering  for  their 
under  extremities  is  black  boots ;  the  ornamental  furni- 
ture of  their  houfes  confifts,  in  a  great  meafure,  of  that 
beautiful  black  varnifhed  ware,  which  we  import  from 
their  country.  White  muft,  therefore,  produce  a  harih 
diffonance  with  their  furniture,  their  drefs,  and,  above  all, 
with  the  du/ky  colour  of  their  fkin. 

If  thofe  Nations  were  to  wear  a  black  habit,  in  mourn- 
ing, as  we  do,  be  their  colour  ever  fo  deep,  it  would  not 
form  a  clafliing  oppofition  in  their  drefs.  The  exprefTion 
of  grief,  accordingly,  is  precifely  the  fame  with  them  as 
with  us.  For  if  we,  in  a  feafon  of  mourning,  oppofe  the 
black  colour  of  our  clothes  to  the  white  colour  of  our 
(kin,  in  order  thence  to  produce  a  funeral  diffonance,  the 
fouthern  Nations  oppofe,  on  the  contrary,  the  white  col- 
our of  their  garments  to  the  dufky  colour  of  their  fkin,  in 
order  to  produce  the  fame  effeft. 

This  variety  of  tafle  admirably  confirms  the  univerfal- 
ity  of  the  principles  which  we  have  laid  down  refpefting 
the  caufes  of  harmony  and  diffonance.  It  farther  demon- 
ftrates,  that  the  agreeablenefs,  or  difagreeablenefs  of  a 
colour,  refides  not  in  one  fingle  fhade,  but  in  the  harmo- 
ny, or  in  the  clafliing  contraft,  of  two  oppofite  colours. 

We  might  find  proofs  of  thofe  laws  multiplied  without 
end,  in  Nature,  to  which  Man  ought  ever  to  have  recourfe 
in  all  his  doubts.  She  oppofes  harihly,  in  hot  countries 
as  in  cold,  the  colours  of  dangerous  and  delfru^live  ani- 
mals. Venomous  reptiles  are  univerfally  painted  in  gloomy 
colours,     Birds  of  prey  are  univerfally  of  an  earthy  hue 


fS  A  VINDICATION  of 

oppofed  to  yellow,  and  white  fpecks  on  a  dark  ground, 
or  dark  fpo^s  on  a  light  ground.  Nature  has  given  a  yel- 
low robe,  ftriped  with  dufky  brown,  and  fparkling  eyes, 
to  the  tyger  lying  in  ambufh  under  the  fhade  of  the  forefts 
of  the  South:  And  fhe  has  tinged  with  black  the  fnout 
and  paws,  and  with  blood  colour  the  throat  and  eyes,  of 
the  white  bear,  and  thereby  renders  him  apparent,  not- 
withftanding  the  whitenefs  of  his  fur,  amidfl  the  fnows  of 
the  North. 


OJ  Forms. 


Let  us  now  proceed  to  the  generation  of  forms,  If  1 
am  not  miftaken,  the  principles  of  thefe,  like  thofe  of  col- 
ours, are  reducible  to  five,  namely,  the  line,  the  triangle, 
the  circle,  the  ellipfe  and  the  parabola. 

The  line  generates  all  forms,  as  the  ray  of  light  does  all 
colours.  It  goes  on  progreflively,  like  the  other,  in  its 
generations,  ftep  by  ftep,  producing  firft,  by  three  frac- 
tions, the  triangle,  which,  of  all  figures,  contains  the  fmall- 
eft  of  furfaces  under  the  greateft  of  circuits.  The  trian- 
gle afterward,  compofed  itfelf  of  three  triangles  at  the 
centre,  produces  the  fquare,  which  confifts  of  four  trian- 
gles from  the  central  point;  the  pentagon,  which  confifts 
of  five  ;  the  hexagon,  which  confifts  of  fix  ;  and  fo  of  the 
reft  of  the  polygons,  up  to  the  circle,  which  is  compofed 
of  a  multitude  of  triangles,  whofe  fummits  are  at  its  cen- 
tre, and  the  bafes  at  its  circumference  :  And  which,  con- 
trary to  tlie  triangle,  contains  the  greateft  of  furfaces  un- 
der the  fmalleft  of  peripheries.  The  form  which  has, 
hitherto,  always  been  going  on  progreflively,  commencing 
with  the  line,  relatively  to  a  centre,  up  to  the  circle,  af- 
terwards deviates  from  it  ;  and  produces  the  ellipfe,  then 
the  parabola,  and  finally  all  the  other  widened  curves,  the 
equations  of  which  may  all  be  referred  to  this  laft. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  g^ 

So  that  under  this  afpeft,  the  indefinite  line  has  no 
common  centre  :  The  triangle  has  three  points  in  its 
bounding  lines,  which  have  a  common  centre  ;  the  fquare 
has  four  ;  the  pentagon  five  ;  the  hexagon  fix  :  And  the 
circle  has  all  the  points  of  its  circumference  regulated 
conformably  to  one  common  and  only  centre.  The  el- 
lipfe  begins  to  deviate  from  this  regulation,  and  has  two 
centres ;  and  the  parabola,  as  well  as  the  other  curves, 
which  are  analogous  to  it,  have  centres  innumerable  con- 
tained in  their  feveral  axes,  from  which  they  remove  far- 
ther and  farther,  forming  fomething  like  funnels. 

On  the  fuppofition  of  this  afcending  generation  of 
forms,  from  the  line,  through  the  triangle,  up  to  the  cir- 
cle ;  and  their  defcending  generation,  from  the  circle, 
through  the  ellipfe,  to  the  parabola,  1  deduce,  from  thefe 
five  elementary  forms,  all  the  forms  of  Nature  ;  as,  with 
the  fiv^e  primordial  colours  1  compofe  all  the  polTible 
(hades  of  colour. 

The  line  prefents  the  flenderefl  form,  the  circle  pre- 
fents  the  fulleft,  and  the  parabola  the  mofl  obliquely  flut- 
ed. In  this  progreffion  it  may  be  remarked,  that  the  cir- 
cle, which  occupies  the  middle  between  thefe  two  ex- 
tremes, is  the  moil  beautiful  of  all  the  elementary  forms, 
as  red  is  the  moft  beautiful  of  all  the  primordial  colours, 
I  presume  not  to  fay,  with  certain  ancient  Philofophers, 
that  this  form  mull  be  the  moft  beautiful,  becaufe  it  is  the 
'figure  of  the  Stars,  which,  however,  would  be  no  fuch 
contemptible  reafoii  ;  but,  to  enjploy  only  the  teftimonv 
of  our  fenfes,  it  is  the  moft  grateful  to  both  the  eye  and 
the  touch  ;  it  is,  likewife,  the  moft  fufceptible  of  motion ; 
finally,  what  is  no  mean  authority  in  the  cafe  of  natural 
truths,  it  is  confidercd  as  the  moft  conformable  to  the 
tafte  of  all  Nations,  who  employ  it  in  their  ornaments, 
and  in  their  architefllire ;  and  it  is  particularly  conforma- 
ble to  the  tafte  of  children,  v.'ho  give  it  the  preference  ta 
everv  other,  in  the  ipftruments  of  their  amwfcment, 


30  A  VINDICATION  of 

It  is  very  remarkable,  that  thefe  five  elementar\^  fonns 
have  the  fame  analogies  to  each  other  which  the  five  pri- 
mordial colours  have  among  themfelves  ;  fo  that  if  you 
proceed  to  their  afcending  generation,  from  the  fphere  to- 
ward the  line,  you  will  have  forms  angular,  lively  and 
gay,  which  fhall  terminate  in  the  ftraight  line,  and  of  which 
Nature  compofes  fo  many  radiations  and  expanfions  of 
figure,  in  the  Heavens  and  on  the  Earth,  fo  agreeable  to 
behold.  If,  on  the  contrary,  you  defcend  from  the  fphere 
to  the  excavations  of  the  parabola,  you  will  be  prefented 
with  a  gradation  of  cavernous  forms,  which  are  fo  fright- 
ful in  abylTes  and  precipices. 

Farther,  if  you  join  the  elementary  forms  to  the  primor- 
dial colours,  term  for  term,  you  will  obferve  their  prin- 
cipal charafter  mutually  flrengthen  each  other,  at  leaft 
in  the  two  extremes,  and  in  the  harmonic  expreflion  of 
the  centre  :  For  the  two  firft  terms  will  ^ive  the  white 
ray,  which  is  the  ray  of  light  itfelf ;  the  circular  form, 
united  to  the  red  colour,  will  produce  a  figure  analogous 
to  the  rofe,  compofed  of  fpherical  portions,  with  carmine 
tints,  and,  from  the  effeft  of  this  double  harmony,  deem- 
ed, in  the  judgment  of  all  Nations,  the  moft  beautiful  of 
flowers.  Finally,  black,  added  to  the  vacuity  of  the  pa- 
rabola, increafes  the  gloom  of  retreating  and  cavernous 
forms. 

With  thefe  five  elementary  forms  may  be  compofed 
figures  as  agreeable  as  the  fhades  which  arc  produced 
from  the  harmonies  of  the  five  primordial  colours.  So 
that  the  more  there  Ihall  enter,  into  thofc  mixed  figures, 
of  the  two  afcending  terms  of  the  progrelTion,  the  more 
light  and  gay  fucli  figures  will  be  ;  and  the  more  that  the 
two  dcfcending  tcrm.s  (hall  predominate,  the  more  heavy 
and  dull  will  be  the  forms.  Thus,  the  form  will  be  {o 
much  tlic  more  elegant,  as  the  firft  term,  which  is  the 
flraight  line,  fliall  have  the  predominance.  For  example, 
the  column  gives  us  pleafure,  becaufe  it  is  a  long  cylin- 
iler,  which  has   the  circle  for  its  bafis,  and  two  ftraighi 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  ^\ 

lines,  or  a  quadrilateral  figure  of  confiderable  lengthy  for 
its  elevation.  But  the  palm  tree,  of  which  it  is  an  imita- 
tion, pleafes  ftill  more,  becaufe  the  ftellated  and  radiating 
forms  of  its  palms,  likewife  taken  from  the  ftraight  line, 
conftitute  a  very  agreeable  oppofition  with  the  roundnefs 
of  its  ftem  ;  and  if,  to  this,  you  unite  the  harmonic  form 
by  way  of  excellence,  namely,  the  circular,  you  will  add 
inexprefTibly  to  the  grace  of  this  beautiful  tree.  This, 
likewife,  Nature,  who  knows  much  more  of  the  matter 
than  we,  has  taken  care  to  do,  by  fufpending,  at  the  bafis 
of  its  divergent  boughs,  fometimes  the  oval  date,  and 
fometimts  the  rounded  cocoa  nut. 

In  general,  as  often  as  you  employ  tl^  circular  form, 
you  will  greatly  enhance  the  agreeablenefs  of  it,  by  unit- 
ing it  with  the  two  contraries  of  which  it  is  compofed ; 
for,  you  will  then  have  a  complete  elementary  progreffion. 
The  circular  form  alone  prefents  but  one  expreffion,  the 
moft  beautiful  of  all,  in  truth  ;  but  united  to  its  two  ex- 
tremes, it  forms,  if  I  may  fo  exprefs  myfelf,  an  entire 
thought.  It  is  from  the  efFe6l  which  thence  refults,  that 
the  vulgar  confider  the  form  of  the  heart  to  be  fo  beauti- 
ful, as  to  compare  to  it  every  other  beautiful  and  inter- 
efting  objeft.  That  is  beautiful  as  a  heart,  fay  they.* 
This  heart  form  confifls,  at  its  bafis,  of  a  projeBing  angle, 
and  above,  of  a  retreating  angle ;  there  we  have  the  ex- 
tremes :  And  in  its  collateral  parts,  of  two  fpherical  por- 
tions :  there  is  the  harmonic  exprefiion. 

It  is,  farther,  from  thefe  fame  harmonies,  that  long 
ridges  of  mountains,  overtopped  by  lofty  peaks  of  a  pyra- 
midica!  form,  feparated  from  each  other  by  deep  valleys, 
delight  us  by  their  gracefulnefs  and  majefiy.     If  to  thefe 

*  Is  not  our  Author  here  indulging  fancy,  rather  than  following  Nature  ? 
If  this  be  an  idea  and  expreflion  of  tke  common  people,  it  muft  be  the 
commonalty  of  a  particular  country.  Heart  is,  perhaps,  univerfally  ufed  to 
exprefs  fondnefs,  affefllon,  denre  ;  but  to  reprcfcnt  the  forri  of  that  organ 
as  beautiful,  nay,  the  cjense  of  beauty,  i$,  furelv,  a  violent  ftrctch  of  imagina- 
tion. '  H.  H. 


§2  A  VINDICATION  Of 

you  add  rivers  meandering  below,  radiating  poplars  wav- 
ing on  their  banks,  flocks  of  cattle  and  fhepherds,  you 
will  have  vales  fimilar  to  that  of  Tempe.  The  circular 
forms  of  the  mountains,  in  fuch  a  landfcape,  are  placed 
between  their  extremes,  namely,  the  prominency  of  the 
rocks,  and  the  cavity  of  the  valleys*  But  if  you  feparate 
from  it  the  harmonic  expreflions,  that  is,  the  circular 
wavings  of  thofe  mountains,  together  with  their  peace- 
ful inhabitants,  and  allow  the  extremes  only  to  remain, 
you  will  then  have  the  dreary  profpe6l  of  Cape  Horn ; 
angular,  perpendicular  rocks,  hanging  over  fathomlefs  a- 
byfles. 

If  to  thefe  you  add  oppofitions  of  colour,  as  that  of 
fnow  on  the  fummits  of  the  dufky  rocks,  the  foam  of  the 
billows  breaking  on  the  lurid  fhore,  a  pale  fun  in  a  gloomy 
fky,  torrents  of  rain  in  the  midft  of  Summer,  tremendous 
fqualls  of  wind  fucceeded  by  fuUen  calms,  a  European 
vefTel,  on  her  way  to  fpread  defolation  over  the  iflands  of 
the  South  Sea,*  running  upon  a  rock  when  it  is  begin- 
ning to  grow  dark,  firing,  from  time  to  time,  guns,  the 
fi gnal  of  diftrefs,  the  noife  of  which  the  echoes  of  thofe 
horrid  dcfcrts  reverberate,  the  terrified  Patagonian  run- 
ning in  amazement  to  his  cave ;  you  will  have  a  com- 
plete view  of  that  land  of  defolation,  covered  over  with 
the  (hades  of  death. 


•  Would  not  iheefltft  of  thisdrea^dful  pifturc  have  been  confidcrabiy 
flrcngthened,had  our  Author  rcprefcnted  his  European  veffcl  as  attempting 
to  double  C:»pe  Horn,  on  her  return  from  fpreading  devaftation  over  th? 
South  Seas,  and  making  fbipwreck  on  that  dreary  coaft,  after  the  fcene  of 
blood  was  aded  ?  In  this  cafe  we  fiiould  have  had  the  ftriking  and  inftruc 
live  reprefentation  of  the  connexion  between  Human  Guilt  and  Divine 
Juftice ;  of  the  claihirig  collifion  of  criminality  and  vengeance,  H.  H. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  33 


Vf  Movements-. 


It  remains  that  1  fuggeft  a  few  refle^llons  on  the  fub= 
je6l  of  motions.  Of  thefe  we  ftiall,  in  like  manner  dif- 
tinguifh  five  which  are  fundamental  :  Self  motion,  or  the 
rotation  of  a  body  round  itfelf,  which  fuppofes  no  change 
of  place,  and  which  is  the  principle  of  all  motion  ;  fuch 
is,  perhaps,  that  of  the  Sun  ;  after  that,  the  perpendicular, 
the  circular,  the  horizontal  and  the  flate  of  reft.  All  move- 
ments whatever  may  be  referred  to  thefe  five.  Nay,  you  will 
remark  that  Geometricians,  who  reprefent  them  likewife 
by  figureSj  fuppofe  the  circular  motion  to  be  generated  of 
the  perpendicular  and  the  horizontal,  and,  to  make  ufe 
of  their  language,  produced  by  the  diagonal  of  their 
fquares. 

I  fhall  not  infift  on  the  analogies  of  the  generation  of 
colours  and  forms,  to  thofe  of  the  generation  of  move- 
ments ;  and  which  aftually  exift,  between  the  white  col- 
our, the  ftraight  line,  and  felfmotion,  or  rotation  ;  between 
the  red  colour,  the  fpherical  form,  and  circular  motion : 
between  darknefs,  vacuity,  and  reft.  I  fhall  not  pretend 
to  unfold  the  infinite  combinations  which  might  refulr 
from  the  union,  or  oppofition,  of  the  correfponding  terms 
of  each  generation,  and  of  the  filiations  of  thefe  fame 
terms.  I  leave  to  the  Reader  the  pleafure  of  following 
up  this  idea,  and  of  forming  to  himfelf,  with  thefe  ele- 
ments of  Nature,  harmonies  the  moft  enchanting,  with 
the  additional  charm  of  novelty.  I  ftiall  confine  my- 
felf,  at  prefent,  to  a  few  hafty  obfervations  refpcfting  mo- 
tion. 

Of  all  movements,  the  harmonic,  or  circular  motion,  is 
the  moft  agreeable.  Nature  has  difFufed  it  over  moft  of 
her  works,  and  has  rendered  even  the  vegetables,  which 
are  faftened  down  to   the   earth,   fu fceptiblc  of  it,     Oui 

VOL.    II.  E 


14  A  Vindication  of 

plains  prefent  frequent  images  of  this,  when  the  wind.-^ 
form,  on  the  meadow,  or  on  the  cornfield,  a  feries  pf  un- 
dulations, refembling  the  waves  of  the  fea  ;  or  when  they 
gently  agitate,  on  the  fides  of  the  lofty  mountains,  the 
towering  tops  of  the  trees,  waving  them  about  in  fegments 
ot  a  circle.  Moll  birds  form  portions  of  great  circles  as 
they  play  through  the  airy  expanfe,  and  feem  to  take 
pleafure  in  tracing,  as  they  fly,  an  infinite  variety  of  curves 
and  fpiral  motions.  It  is  remarkable  that  Nature  has  be- 
llowed this  agreeable  ftyle  of  flying  on  many  of  the  inof- 
fenfive  fpecies  of  the  feathered  race,  not  otherwife  to  be 
prized  for  the  exquifitenefs  of  either  their  fong  or  their 
plumage.  Such,  among  others,  is  the  flight  of  the  fwal- 
low. 

The  cafe  is  very  different  with  refpeft  to  the  progref^ 
five  movements  of  ferocious  or  noxious  animals.  They 
advance  kaping,  fpringing,  and  join  to  movements  fome- 
times  extremely  flow,  others  violently  rapid  :  This  is  ob- 
fervable  in  the  motion  of  the  cat  lying  in  wait  to  catch 
a  moufe.  Thofe  of  the  tiger  are  exaftly  fimilar,  in  hi» 
approaches  upon  his  prey.  The  fame  difcordancy  is  ob- 
fervable  in  the  flight  of  carnivorous  birds.  The  fpecies 
of  owl  called  the  grand  duke,  floats  through  the  midfl:  of 
a  tranquil  fky,  as  if  the  wind  carried  him  this  way  and 
that.  Tempefts  prefent,  in  the  Heavens,  the  fame  char- 
afters  of  deftru6lion.  You  fometimes  perceive  the  ftormy 
clouds  moving  in  oppofite  direftions,  and  with  various 
decrees  of  velocity  ;  now  they  fly  with  the  rapidity  of 
lightning,  while  others  remain  immoveable  as  the  rock. 
In  the  tremendous  hurricanes  of  the  Weft  Indies,  the 
explofion  is  always  preceded  and  followed  by  a  dead  calm. 

The  more  that  a  body  polTefles  of  felf  motion,  or  of 
rotation,  the  more  agreeable  it  appears,  efpecially  when 
to  this  movement  is  united  the  harmonic,  or  circular  mo- 
tion. It  is  for  this  reafon,  that  trees  whofe  leaves  are 
moveable,  fuch  as  the  afpin  and  poplar,  have  more  grace 
than  other  foreft  trees,  when  agitated  by  the  wind.     They 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  35 

pieafe  the  eye  by  the  balancing  of  their  tops,  and  by  pre- 
fenting,  in  turns,  the  two  furfaces  of  their  foliage,  which 
difplay  two  different  greens.  They  are  likewife  agreea- 
ble to  the  ear,  from  their  imitation  of  the  bubbling  of 
water.  From  the  effeft  of  felf  motion,  it  is,  that,  every 
moral  idea  out  of  the  queftion,  animals  intereft  us  more 
than  vegetables,  becaufe  they  have  the  principle  of  mo- 
tion  within  themfelves. 

I  do  not  believe  there  is  a  fingle  fpot  op  the  Earth  in 
which  there  is  not  fome  body  in  motion.  Frequently 
have  I  been  in  the  midft  of  vaft  folitudes,  by  day  and  by 
night,  and  in  feafons  of  perfe6l  tranquillity,  and  I  have 
always  heard  fome  noife  or  another.  Often,  in  truth,  it 
was  only  the  found  of  a  bird  flying,  or  of  an  infetl  llir- 
ring  a  leaf  ;  but  found  always  fuppofes  motion. 

Motion  is  the  expreflion  of  life.  In  this  you  fee  the 
reafon  why  Nature  has  multiplied  the  caufes  of  it  in  all 
her  works.  One  of  the  great  charms  of  a  landfcape  is  to 
fee  objeft s  in  motion ;  and  this  is  the  very  thing  which 
the  piftures  of  moft  of  our  great  Mafters  frequently  fail 
to  exprefs.  If  you  except  fuch  of  them  as  reprefent 
tempefts,  you  will  find,  everywhere  elfe,  their  forefls  and 
their  meadows  motionlefs,  and  the  water  of  their  lakes  con- 
gealed. Neverthelefs,  the  inverfion  of  the  leaves  of  trees 
prefenting  a  gray  or  white  under  fide ;  the  undulations 
of  the  grafs  in  the  valleys,  and  on  the  ridges  of  the  moun- 
tains ;  thofe  which  ruffle  the  fmooth  furface  of  the  waters, 
and  the  foam  which  whitens  the  fhores,  recal,  with  inex- 
prefTible  pleafure,  in  a  burning  fummer  fcene,  the  breath 
fo  gentle  and  fo  cooling  of  the  zephyrs.  To  thefe  might 
be  added,  with  infinite  grace,  and  with  powerful  effeft, 
the  movements  peculiar  to  the  animals  which  Inhabit 
them :  For  example,  the  concentric  circles  which  the  div- 
ing bird  forms  on  the  furface  of  the  water ;  the  flight  of 
a  fea  fowl  taking  its  departure  from  a  hillock,  with  neck 
advancing,  and  legs  thrown  backward  ;  that  of  two  white 
turtles  fkimmiug  fide  by  fide,  in  the  ihade,  along  the  fkirts 


g6  A  VINDICATION  or 

of  a  foreft  ;  the  balancing  of  a  wagtail  on  the  extremity 
of  the  foliage  of  a  rufli,  bending  under  his  weight.  It 
might  be  poffible  even  to  reprefent  the  motion  and  the 
weight  of  a  loaded  carriage  toiling  up  a  hill,  by  exprefling 
the  dull  of  the  crufhed  pebbles  which  rifes  up  behind  its 
wheels.  Nay,  I  will  go  fo  far  as  to  fay,  that  I  think  the 
efFefts  of  the  finging  of  birds,  and  of  the  echoes,  might  be 
rendered  perceptible,  by  the  expreffion  of  certain  charac- 
ters which  it  is  not  neceffary  here  to  unfold. 

So  far  are  moft  of  our  Painters,  even  among  thofe 
whofe  talents  are  moft  confpicuous,  from  paying  attention 
to  acceffories  fo  agreeable,  that  they  omit  them  in  fub- 
jefts  of  which  thofe  acceffories  form  the  principal  char- 
after.  For  example,  if  they  reprelent  a  chariot  at  full 
fpeed,  they  take  pains  to  exhibit  every  fpoke  of  the 
wheels.  The  horfes,  indeed,  are  galloping,  but  the  char- 
iot is  immoveable.  The  wheels  of  a  carriage,  however, 
that  is  running  with  a  rapid  motion,  prefent  but  one  fm- 
gle  furface ;  all  their  fpokes  are  confounded  to  the  eye. 
It  was  not  thus  that  the  Ancients,  our  mafters  in  every 
branch  of  Art,  imitated  Nature.  PHny  tells  us,  that  Apel- 
les  had  fo  exa6tly  painted  chariots  with  four  horfes,  that 
the  wheels  appeared  to  be  turning  round.  In  the  curious 
lift  which  he  has  tranfmitted  to  us  of  the  moft  celebrated 
piftures  of  antiquity,  and  ftill  viewed  v/ith  admiration  at 
Rome  in  his  time,  he  particularly  mentions  one  which 
reprefented  women  fpinning  wool,  whofe  fpindles  feemed 
aftually  to  whirl.  Another  was  held  in  high  eftimation,* 
*'  in  which  were  reprefented  two  light  armed  foldiers,  the 
**  one  of  whom  is  fo  heated  with  running  in  battle,  that 
*'.  vou  fee  him  fweat,  and  the  other,  who  is  laying  down 
•'  his  arms,  appears  fo  exhaufted,  that  you  imagine  you 
*'  hear  him  panting."  I  have  feen,  in  many  modern 
piftures,  machines  in  motion,  wrcftlers  and  warriors  in 
aftion,  but  in  no  one  of  them  did  I   ever  find  attention 

•  Pliny's  Natural  HiRorv.     Bookxxwii.  chap,  ic  and  l\. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  37 

paid  to  thefe  effefts  To  fimple,  and  fo  exprefTive  of  the 
truth  of  Nature.  Our  painters  confider  them  as  petty- 
details,  beneath  the  notice  of  a  man  of  genius.  Neverthe- 
lefs  thefe  petty  details  are  traits  of  charafter. 

Marcus  Aurelius,  who  poffefTed  fully  as  much  genius 
as  anv  modern  whatever,  has  very  judicioufly  obferved, 
that,  m  many  cafes,  it  is  on  fuch  minutenefTes  the  atten- 
tion fixes,  and  from  the  contemplation  of  thefe  the  mind 
derives  the  moft  pleafure.  "  The  fight  of  the  fhrivelling 
"  of  ripe  figs,"  fays  he,  "  the  bufliy  eyebrows  of  a  lion, 
"  the  foaming  of  an  enraged  wild  boar,  the  reddifii  fcales 
**  which  rife  on  the  cruft  of  bread  coming  out  of  the  ov- 
"  en,  give  pleafure."  This  pleafure  may  be  accounted 
for  in  various  ways  :  Firft,  from  the  weaknefs  of  the  hu- 
man mind,  which,  in  contemplating  any  obje6l  whatever, 
fixes  on  fome  one  principal  point ;  and  then,  from  the  de- 
fign  of  Nature,  who,  likewife,  in  all  her  works,  prefents 
to  us  one  fingle  point  of  conformity,  or  of  difcordancy, 
nvhich  is,  as  it  were,  its  centre.  The  mind  increafes  its 
affeftion,  or  its  averfion,  for  this  charafteriftic  trait,  the 
more  fimple  that  it  is,  and,  in  appearance,  contemptible. 
This  is  the  reafon  that,  in  eloquence,  the  fhorteft  expref- 
fions  always  convey  the  ftrongeft  pafiions ;  for  all  that  is 
requifite,  as  we  have  hitherto  feen,  in  order  to  excite  a 
fenfation  of  pleafure,  or  of  pain,  is  to  determine  a  point 
oi  harmony,  or  of  difcord,  between  two  contraries  :  Now, 
when  thefe  two  contraries  are  oppofites  in  nature,  and  are 
I'o,  befides,  in  magnitude  and  in  weaknefs,  their  oppofition 
redoubles,  and  confequently  their  effect. 

The  effeft  is  farther  heightened,  if  to  this  is  joined,  ef- 
pecially,  the  furprife  of  feeing  ftriking  occafious  of  hope, 
or  of  fear,  produced  by  objefts  of  apparently  fmall  im- 
portance ;  for  every  phyfical  effeft  produces,  in  Man,  a 
moral  feeling.  For  example,  1  have  feen  many  piftures, 
and  read  many  defcriptions,  of  battles,  which  attempted 
to  infpire  horror,  by  reprefenting  an  infinite  variety  of  in- 
fti-umems  of  deltruftion,  and  a  mvjltitude  of  dyin^r  aik4 


gS  A  VINDICATION  of 

dead  perfons,  wounded  in  every  poflible  manner.  The 
lefs  did  I  feel  my  fell  moved,  the  more  I  perceived  the 
machinery  employed  to  move  me  :  One  efFeft  deftroyed 
the  other.  But  1  have  been  greatly  affeaed  by  reading, 
in  Plutarch,  the  death  of  Cleopatra. 

That  great  Painter  of  calamity  reprefents  the  Queen 
of  Egypt  meditating,  in  the  tomb  of  Anthony,  on  the 
means  of  eluding  the  triumph  of  Augujlus.  A  peafant 
brings  her,  with  permillion  of  the  guards  on  duty  at  the 
entrance  of  the  tomb,  a  balket  of  figs.  The  moment  that 
the  clown  has  retired,  fhe  haflens  to  uncover  the  bafket, 
and  perceives  the  afpic,  which,  by  her  contrivance,  had 
been  introduced  among  the  figs,  to  put  a  period  to  her 
miferable  life.  This  contrail,  a  woman  being  the  fubjeft, 
of  libertv  and  flavery,  of  royal  power  and  annihilation, 
of  voiuptuoufnefs  and  death ;  thofe  leaves  and  fruits  a- 
midft  which  Ihe  perceives  only  the  head  and  fparkling 
eyes  of  a  puny  reptile,  prepared  to  terminate  interefls  of 
fuch  "  great  pith  and  moment;"  and  which  Hie  thus  ad- 
dre^ts^'^There  you  are!  all  thefe  oppofitions,  one  after 
another,  make  you  Ihudder. 

But,  in  order  to  render  the  perfon  itfelf  of  Cleopatra 
interefting,  there  is  no  occafion  to  reprefent  her  to  your^ 
felf,  as  our  Painters  and  Sculptors  exhibit  her,  an  academ- 
ic figure  deflitute  of  exprefTian  !  a  {trapping  virago,  ro- 
buft,  and  replete  v/ith  health,  with  large  eyes,  turned  to- 
ward Heaven,  and  wearing  round  her  large  and  brawny 
arm  a  ferpent  twlfted,  like  a  bracelet.  This  is  by  no 
means  a  reprefentation  of  the  little,  voluptuous  Queen  of 
Egypt,  who  had  herfelf  carried,  as  1  before  mentioned, 
packed  up  in  a  bundle  of  goods,  on  the  Ihoulders  oi  Apol- 
lodorus,  to  keep  a  flolen  adignation  with  Julius  Cejar  ; 
at  anotlier  time  walking  the  ftreets  of  Alexandria  by 
night,  with  Anthony,  difguifed  as  a  fempftrefs,  rallying 
him,  and  infiftlng  that  his  jeils,  and  ftyleof  humour,  fmelt 
itrongly  of  the  foldier.  Still  lefs  is  it  a  reprefentation  ot 
ihe  unfortunate  Cleopatra,  reduced  to  the  extreme  of  c^a-. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  39 

iaftilty,  dragging  up,  by  means  of  cords  and  chains,  with 
the  afliftance  of  two  ot  her  women,  through  the  window 
of  the  monument  in  which  fhe  had  taken  refuge,  with 
her  head  downward,  without  ever  letting  go  her  hold^ 
fays  Plutarch^  that  very  Anthony^  covered  over  with 
blood,  who  had  run  himfelf  through  with  his  own  fword, 
and  who  ftruggled  with  all  his  remaining  ftrength  to  get 
up,  and  expire  in  her  arms* 

Details  are  by  no  means  to  be  defpifed  ;  they  are  fre- 
quently traits  of  charafter.  To  return  to  our  Painters 
and  Sculptors ;  if  they  withhold  the  expreflion  of  mo- 
tion to  landfcapes,  to  wreftlers,  and  to  chariots  in  the 
courfe,  they  beftow  it  on  the  portraits  and  the  ftatues  of 
our  great  Men  and  Philofophers.  They  reprefent  them 
as  Angels  founding  the  alarm  to  judgment,  with  hair  fly- 
ing about,  with  wild  wandering  eyes,  the  mufcles  of  the 
face  in  a  ftate  of  convulfion,  and  their  garments  fluttering 
in  the  wind.  Thefe,  they  tell  us,  are  the  expreflions  of 
genius.  But  perfons  of  genius,  and  great  Men,  are  not 
bedlamites.  1  have  feen  fome  of  their  portraits,  on  an* 
tiques.  The  medals  of  Virgil,  of  Plato,  of  Scipio,  of 
Epaminondas,  nay,  of  Alexander,  reprefent  them  with  a 
ferene  and  tranquil  air.  It  is  the  property  of  inanimate 
matter,  of  vegetables,  and  of  mere  animals,  to  obey  all  the 
movements  of  Nature ;  but  it  is  that  of  a  great  Man,  in 
my  opinion,  to  have  his  emotions  under  command,  and  it 
is  only  in  fo  far  as  he  exercifes  this  empire,  that  he  mer- 
its the  name  of  Great. 

I  have  made  a  fliort  digreflion  from  my  fubjeft,  in  or* 
der  to  fuggeft  a  few  lefTons  of  conformity  to  Artifts,  who, 
I  am  well  aware,  will  find  it  much  more  diflRcult  to  ex- 
ecute, than  it  is  eafy  for  me  to  criticife.  God  forbid 
that  any  thing  I  have  faid  fhould  give  a  moment's  pain  to 
men  whofe  works  have  fo  frequently  given  me  exquifite 
pleafure.  It  was  fimply  my  wifli  to  caution  the  ingenious 
Againft  the  academic  manner  which  fetters  them,  and  t^ 


40  A  VINDICATION  of 

flimulate  them  to  tread  in  the  fteps  of  Nature,  and  to  pur- 
fue  that  track  as  far  as  genius   can  carry  them. 

This  would  be  the  place  to  fpeak  of  Mufic,  for  founds 
are  movements  merely  :  But  perfons  of  much  greater  a- 
bility  than  1  dare  pretend  to,  have  treated  this  noble  Art 
with  cotifummate  fkill.  If  any  foreign  teftimony  could 
farther  confirm  me  in  the  certainty  of  the  principles  which 
I  have  hitherto  laid  down,  it  is  that  of  Muficians  of  the 
higheft  reputation,  who  have  reftrifted  harmonic  expref- 
fion  to  three  founds.  I  might,  as  they  have  done,  reduce 
to  three  terms  the  elementarv  generations  of  colours, 
of  forms,  and  of  motions  ;  but  if  I  am  not  miftaken,  they 
thcmfelves  have  omitted,  in  their  fundamental  bafis,  the 
generative  principle,  which  \&  found  properly  fo  call- 
ed, and  the  negative  term,  which  is  filence  ;  efpecially  as 
this  laft  produces  effe£ls  fo  powerful  in  the  movements 
of  Mufic. 

Thefe  proportions  might  be  extended  to  the  progref- 
fions  of  tailing,  and  it  might  be  demonftratedj  that  the 
moft  agreeable  of  them  have  fimilar  generations  ;  as  we 
know,  by  experience,  to  be  the  cafe  with  regard  to  moft 
fruits,  whofe  different  ftages  of  maturity  fucceffively  pre- 
fent  five  favours^  namelyj  the  acid,  the  fweet,  the  fugary, 
the  vinous  and  the  bitter.  They  are  acid  while  growing, 
fweet  as  they  ripen,  fugary  in  a  ftate  of  perfeft  maturity, 
vinous  in  their  fermentation,  and  bitter  in  a  flate  of  dry- 
nefs.  Farther,  we  fhould  find  that  the  mofl  agreeable  of 
thefe  favours,  namely,  the  fugary,  is  that  which  occupies 
the  middle  place  in  this  progrefTion,  of  which  it  is  the 
harmonic  term  ;  that,  from  its  nature,  it  forms  new  har.^ 
monies,  by  a  combination  with  its  extremes  ;  for  the  bev- 
erages which  are  moft  grateful  to  the  palate,  confill  of  acid 
and  fugar,  as  the  refrefhing  liquors  prepared  with  citron 
juice;  or  of  fugar  and  bitter,  fuch  as  coffee.  But  while 
1  am  endeavouring  to  open  new  paths  to  Philofophy,  it 
is  no  part  of  my  intention  to  prefent  new  combinations 
to  voluptuoufnefs. 


DiyiNE  PROVIDENCE.  41 

Though  I  have  a  thorough  cgnyiftion  .of  the  truth  of 
thefe  elemeatary  genejrations,  and  am  able  to  fupport  them 
with  a  multitude  of  proofs  which  1  have  coUefted,  in  the 
tailes  of  polifhed,  and  of  fayage  Nations,  but  which  time 
permits  me  i*ot,,i>t  prejfeijt,  to  exhibit ;  it  would,  however, 
■be  a  matter  of  no  furprife  to  me,  fhould  many  of  my 
iReaders  diffent  from  what  I  have  advanced.  Qur  natural 
i^ftes  are  perv;erted  from  our  infancy,  by  prejudices  ^yhicih 
determine  our  phyfical  fenfations,  much  more  po\Yerfully 
than  thefe  laft  give  direftion  to  our  moral  affeftions* 
More  than  one  Churchman  confiders  violet  as  the  mofl 
beautiful  of  colours,  becaufe  his  3ifhop  wears  it  :  iVlor^ 
Bifhops  than  one  give  fcarlet  the  preference,  becaufe  it  is 
the  Cardinal's  colour ;  and  more  than  one  Cardinal,  un- 
doubtedly, would  rather  be  dreffed  in  white,  becaufe  this 
colour  is  appropriated  to  the  Head  of  the  Church.  A 
foldier,  frequently,  looks  upon  the  red  as  the  raoft  beauti- 
ful of  all  ribbons ;  but  his  fuperior  officer  prefers  the 
blue.  Our  temperaments,  as  well  as  our  conditions,  have 
.an  influence  upon  pur  opinions. 

Gay  people  prefer  lively  colours  to  every  other  ;  per- 
fons  of  fenfibility,  thofe  which  are  delicate  ;  the  melan- 
choJy  aflume  the  dufls^y.  Though  1  myfelf  confider  red 
as  the  moft  beautiful  qf  colours,  and  the  fphere  as  the 
mofl  perfeft  of  forms  ;  and  though  I  am  botmd  more  than 
any  other  man,  flrenuoufly  to  adhere  to  this  order,  be- 
caufe it  is  that  of  my  fyftem,  I  prefer  to  the  full  red,  the 
carmine  colour,  which  has  a  flight  fliade  of  violet;  and 
to  the  fphere,  the  oval,  or  elliptical  form.  It  likewife  ap- 
pears to  me,  if  I  may  venture  to  fay  fo,  that  Nature  has 
befl;owed,  by  way  of  preference,  both  of  thefe  modifica- 
tions on  the  rofe,  at  leaft  before  it  is  completely  expanded. 
Farther,  I  like  violet  flowers  better  than  white,  and  ft  111 
much  better  than  fuch  as  are  yellow.  I  prefer  a  branch 
of  lilach  in  bloom  to  a  pot  of  gilliflower,*  and  a  Chi- 

Dr.  Johnfon  tells  us  that   Cillijloxuer  is  a  corruption  in  orthography  for 
^uhjiowcr.     With  due  refpeft  to  fa  great  aa  Etym:)lo<jift,  this  1  take  to  be 
VOL,    II.  F 


4f  A  VINDICATION  of 

nefe  daify,  vWth  its  difk  of  a  fmoky  yellow,  its  rumpled 
fhaggy  down,  its  vit)let  and  grave  petals,  to  the  mod  flafhy 
clufler  of  funflowers  in  the  Luxemburg. 

I  am  perfuaded  that  I  have  thefe  taftes  in  common  with 
rtiany  other  perfons,  and  that,  if  we  form  a  judgment  of 
men  from  the  colour  of  their  clothes,  by  far  the  majority 
is  rather  ferious  than  gay-  I  am  likewife  of  opinion,  that 
Nature,  for  to  her  we  muft  ever  have  recourfe  in  order  to 
be  afTured  that  we  are  right,  gives  moft  of  her  phyfical 
beauties  a  tendency  to  melancholy.  The  plaintive  notes 
of  the  nightingale,  the  deep  fhades  of  the  foreft,  the  fober 
luflre  of  the  Moon,  infpire  no  gaiety,  neverthelefs  they  in- 
tereft  us,  and  that  deeply.  I  feel  much  more  emotion  in 
contemplating  the  fetting  than  the  rifmg  Sun.  In  general, 
we  are  pleafed  by  gay  and  fprightly  beauties,  but  we  are 
melted  and  touched  only  by  thofe  which  are  melancholy. 

I  fliall  endeavour,  in  another  place,  to  unfold  the  caufes 
of  thefe  moral  afFeftions.  They  ftand  in  connexion  with 
laws  more  fublime  than  any  phyfical  laws :  While  thefe 
la  ft  amufe  our  fenfes,  the  other  fpeak  to  the  heart,  and 
calmly  admonifti  us,  that  Man  is  ordained  to  a  much  higher 
deftination. 

It  is  very  poflible  that  I  may  be  miftaken  in  the  order 
of  thofe  generations,  and  may  have  tranfpofed  their  terms. 
But  all  that  I,  from  the  beginning,  propofed,  was  to  open 
fome  new  paths  into  the  Study  of  Nature.  It  is  fufficient 
for  my  purpofe,  that  the  effeft  oi  thefe  generations  is  gen- 
erally acknowledged.  Men  more  enlightened  will  eliab- 
iifh  the  filiations  of  them  in  a  more  luminous  order.  All 
ihat  1  have  hitherto  faid  on  this  fubjeft,  or  hereafter  may 
fay,  is  reducible  to  this  great  Law:  Every  thing  in  Na- 
ture is  formed  of  contraries  :  It  is   from  their  harmonies 

a  miftakc.  The  flowering  of  the  plant  is  by  no  means  limited  to  the  month 
of  July.  The  EngUfti  term  is  derived  from  the  French  word  Girojlicr^ 
(the  clove  plant ;)  every  one  knows  the  (Iriking  analogy  between  the  favour 
of  that  fpice,  and  the  fmell  of  the  Gilliflower.  H,  H. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  4^ 

that  the  fentiment  of  pleafure  refults,  and  out  of  their  op- 
pofitions  ilTues  the  fentiment  of  pain. 

This  Law,  as  we  fhall  fee,  extends  alfo  to  morals. 
Every  truth,  the  truths  of  faft  excepted,  is  the  refuh  of 
two  contrary  ideas.  From  this  it  follows,  that  as  often  as 
we  decompound  a  truth,  by  diale6lics,  we  divide  it  into 
the  two  ideas  of  which  it  is  conftituted ;  and  if  we  con- 
fine ourfelvcs  to  one  of  its  elementary  ideas,  as  to  a  de- 
tJiched  principle,  and  deduce  confequences  from  it,  we 
ihal]  convert  it  into  a  fource  of  endlefs  difputation  ;  for 
the  other  elementary  idea  will  abundantly  fupply  confe- 
quences diametrically  oppofite  to  the  perfon  who  is  dif- 
pofed  to  purfue  them  ;  and  thefe  confequences  are  them- 
felves  fufceptible  of  contradiftory  decompofitions,  which 
go  on  without  end.  The  Schools  are  admirably  adapted 
to  inftruft  us  how  to  manage  this  procefs ;  and  thither 
are  we  fent  to  form  our  judgment.  There  are  we  taught 
to  feparate  the  moft  evident  truths  not  only  into  two,  but, 
as  Hudibras  fays,  into  four.  If,  for  example,  fome  one 
of  our  Logicians,  obferving  that  cold  had  an  influence  on 
vegetation,  Ihould  think  proper  to  maintain,  that  cold  is 
the  only  caufe  of  it,  and  that  heat  is  even  inimical  to  it, 
he  would  take  care,  no  doubt,  to  quote  the  efflorefcences 
and  the  vegetations  of  ice,  the  growth,  the  verdure,  and 
the  flowering  of  mofles  in  Winter  ;  plants  burnt  up  by 
the  heat  of  the  Sun,  in  Summer,  and  many  other  effefts 
relative  to  his  thefis.  But  his  antagonifl:,  availing  him- 
feif,  on  his  fide,  of  the  influences  of  Spring,  and  of  the 
ravages  of  Winter,  would  clearly  demxonflrate,  that  heat 
alone  gives  life  to  the  vegetable  world.  But  the  truth  is, 
after  all,  that  heat  and  cold  combined  form  one  of  the 
principles  of  vegetation,  not  only  in  temperate  climates, 
but  to  the  very  heart  of  the  Torrid  Zone. 

It  may  confidently  be  affirmed,  that  all  the  diforders, 
in  both  Phyfics  and  Morals,  are  neither  more  nor  lefs 
than  the  clafliing  oppofition  of  two  contraries.  If  men 
would  pay  attention  to  this  Law,  there  would  be  a  fpeedu 


44  A  \aNDICATION  of 

end  put  t6  mofl  of  their  wranglings  and  miftakes ;  far  ii 
may  be  urged,  that,  every  thing  being  compofed  of  con- 
traries, whoever  affirms  a  fimple  propofition,  is  only  half 
right,  as  the  contrary  propofition  has  equally  an  exiftencfc 
in  nature. 

There  is,  perbaps,  ia  the  World  but  one  intelleftual 
truth,  pure,  fimple,  and  which  does  not  admit  of  a  contra- 
ry idea  ;  it  is  the  exiftence  of  GOD.  It  is  very  reroarkai 
ble,  that  thofe  who  have  denied  it,  adduce  no  other  ^rdofs 
to  fupport  their  negation,  but  the  apparent  diforderS'  ,df 
Nature,  the  extreme  principles  of  which  alone  they  con- 
templated :  So  that  they  have  not  demonftrated,  that  no 
God  exifted,  but  that  He  was  not  intelligent,  or  that  He 
Was  not  good.  Their  error,  accordingly,  proceeds  from 
their  ignorance  of  natural  Laws.  Befides,  their  arguments 
have  been  iounded,  for  the  moft  part,  on  the  diforders  of 
men,  who  exift  in  ah  order  widely  different  from  that  of 
Nature,  and  who  alone,  of  all  beings  endowed  with  per- 
ception, have  been  committed  to  their  own  dire6lion. 

-iAs  to  the  nature  of  GOD,  1  know  that  faith  itfelf  pre- 
ferits  Him  to  us,  as  the  harmonic  principk  by  way  of  fu- 
preme  excellence,  not  only  with  relation  to  all  that  fur- 
rounds  Him,  of  which  He  is  the  Creator  and  Mover,  but 
even  in  his  eflence  divided  into  three  perfons.  Bqjuet 
has  extended  thefe  harmonies  of  Deity  to  Man,  by  trac- 
ing in  the  operations  of  the  human  Soul,  fame  confonan- 
cy  to  the  Trinity,  of  which  it  is  the  image.  Tliefe  lofty 
fpeculations  are,  I  acknowledge,  infinitely  above  mv 
reach.  Nav,  I  am  filled  with  admiration  to  think,  that 
the  Divinity  fhould  have  permitted  beings  fo  weak, 
and  fo  tranfitory,  as  we  are,  to  take  fo  much  as  a  glirapfe 
of  his  onmipoteiice  on  this  Earth  ;  and  that  he  fhould  have 
veiled,  under  combinations  of  matter,  the  operations  ol 
his  infinite  Intelligence,  in  order  to  adapt  it  to  our  per- 
ception. A  fingle  aft  of  his  will  was  fufBcieht  to  call 
us  into  being;  the  flighteft  communication  of  his  works 
is  fufficient  'to  illununate  our  reafon  ;  but  I  have  a  thor- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  4^ 

©ugh  pcrfuafion,  that  if  the  fmalleft  ray  of  his  divine  ef- 
fence  were  to  communicate  itfelf  direftly  to  us,  in  a  hu» 
inan  body,  we  muft  be  annihilated. 


OF  CONSONANCES, 


Confonances  are  repetitions  of  the  fame  harmonies. 
They  increafe  our  pleafures  hy  multiplying  them,  and 
by  transferring  the  enjoyment  of  them  to  new  fcenes. 
They  farther  communicate  pleafure,  by  rendering  it  per- 
ceptible to  us,  that  the  fame  Intelligence  has  prefided  o- 
ver  the  different  plans  of  Nature,  as  it  prefents  to  us, 
throughout,  fimilar  harmonies.  Confonances,  accordingly, 
confer  more  pleafure  than  fimple  harmonies,  becaufe  they 
convey  to  us  the  fentiments  of  extenfion,  and  of  Divinity, 
fo  congenial  to  the  nature  of  the  human  Soul.  Natural 
objeEs  excite  in  us  a  certain  degree  of  fatisfaftion,  only 
in  fo  far  as  they  iawaken  and  difpiay  an  intelle6fual  feel- 
ing. 

We  find  frequent  examples  of  confonances  in  Nature. 
The  clouds  of  the  Horizon  frequently  imitate,  on  the 
Sea,  the  forms  of  mountains,  and  the  afpefts  of  land,  and 
this  fo  exaftly,  as  often  to  deceive  the  mo  ft  experienced 
mariners.  The  waters  refleB;  from  their  heaving  bofom, 
the  heavens,  the  hills,  the  forefts.  The  echoing  rocks; 
in  iheir  tunn,  repeat  the  murmuring  of  the  waters.  As  i 
was  walking  one  day,  in  the  Pais  de  Caux,  along  the  fea- 
fide,  and  confidering  the  reflexes  of  the  fliorc  in  the  bo*- 
fom  of  the  water,  I  was  not  a  little  aftonifhed  to  hear  oth- 
er waves  emitting  a  dying  found  behind  me.  1  turned 
round,  and  perceived  only  a  high  and  fteep  Ihore,  the 
echoes  of  wiuch  were  repeating  the  noife  of  the  waves. 
This  double  confonance  appeared  to  mc  wonderfully  a- 


46  A  VINDICATION  of 

greeablc.     You  would  have  faid  there  was  a  mountain  ia 
the  fea,  and  a  Tea  in  the  mountain. 

Thofe  tranfpofitions  of  harmony,  from  one  element  to 
another,  commimicate  inexpreffible  pleafure.  Nature  has 
multiplied  them,  accordi:;igly,  with  boundlefs  liberality, 
not  only  in  fugitive  images,  but  by  permanent  forms.  She 
has  repeated,  in  the  midfl  of  the  Seas,  the  forms  ot  Conti- 
nents, in  thofe  of  iflands ;  moft  of  which,  as  we  have  feen, 
have  peaks,  mountains,  lakes,  rivers  and  plains,  propor- 
tioned to  their  extent,  as  if  they  were  little  Worlds.  On 
the  other  hand,  fhe  reprefents  in  the  midfl  of  the  Land, 
the  bafons  of  the  vafl  Ocean,  in  mediterraneans,  and  in 
great  lakes,  which  have  their  fhores,  their  rocks,  their 
ifles,  their  volcanoes,  their  currents,'  and,  fometimes,  a 
flux  and  reflux  peculiar  to  themfelves,  and  which  is  occa- 
sioned by  the  efFufioris  from  icy  mountains,  at  the  bafis  of 
which  they  are  commonly  fituated,  as  the  currents  and 
tides  of  the  Ocean  are,  by  thofe  of  the  Poles.    . 

It  is  fingularly  remarkable,  that  the  moft  beautiful  har- 
monies are  thofe  which  have  the  moft  confonances.  Noth- 
ing in  the  World,  for  example,  is  more  beautiful  than  the 
Sun,  and  nothing  in  nature  is  fo  frequently  repeated  as  his 
form,  and  his  light.  He  is  refle6led  in  a  thoufand  differ- 
ent manners  by  the  refraftions  of  the  air,  which  every  day 
exhibit  him  above  all  the  horizons  of  the  Globe,  before 
he  is  a£lually  rifen,  and.  for.fome  time  after  he  has  fet ; 
by  the  parhelia  which  refleft  his  difk,  fometimes.  twice  or 
thrice,  in  the  mifty.  clouds  of  the  North  ;  by  the  rainy 
cloiids,  in  which  his  refra6led  rays  trace  an  arch  fhaded 
with  a  thoufand  various  colours  ;  and  by  the  waters, 
whofe  reflexes  exhibit  him  in  an  infinite  number  of  places 
where  he  is  not,  in  the  bofo.m  of  meadows,  amidft  flowers 
befprinkled  with  dew,  and  in  the  fhade  of  green  forefts. 
The  dull  and  inert  earth,  too,  refle6ls  him  in  the  fpecular 
particles  of  gravels,  of  micas,  of  cryftals  and  of  rocks, 
Itprefjents  to  us  the  form  of  his  difk,  and  of  his  rays,  ia 
ihe,di|lvS  and  petals  of  the  myriads  of  radiated  flowers  wilK 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  47 

which  it  is  covered;  In  a  word,  this  beautiful  ftar  has 
multiplied  himfelf  to  infinity,  with  varieties  of  which  we 
know  nothing,  in  the  innumerable  ftars  of  the  firmament^ 
which  he  difcovers  to  us,  as  foon  as  he  quits  our  Hori- 
zon ;  as  if  he  had  withdrawn  himfeif ,  from  the  confonan- 
ces  of  the  earth,  only  to  difplay  to  the  delighted  ey:e  thofc 
of  Heaven* 

From  this  Law  of  confonance  it  follows,  that  what  is 
beft  and  moft  beautiful  in  Nature,  is  likewife  moft  com- 
mon, and  the  moft  frequently  repeated.  To  it  we  mufl 
afcribe  the  varieties  of  fpecies  in  each  genus,  which  are  fo 
much  the  more  numerous,  in  proportion  as  that  genus  is 
ufetuL  For  example,  there  is  no  family  in  the  vegetable 
kingdom  fo  necelTaiy  as  that  of  the  gramineous,  on  which 
fubfift  not  only  all  the  quadrupeds,  but  endlefs  tribes  of 
birds  and  infefts ;  and  there  is  no  one,  accordingly,  whofe 
fpecies  are To  varied.  We  fhall  take  notice,  in  the  Study 
on  Plants,  of  the  reafons  of  this  variety,  I  fhall  only  re- 
mark, in  this  place,  that  it  is  in  the  gramineous  families 
Man  has  found  the  great  diverfity  of  nutritious  grains, 
from  which  he  derives  his  chief  fubfiftcnce ;  and  that 
from  reafons  of  confonance,  not  only  the  fpecies,  but  fev- 
■cral  of  the  genera,  nearly  approach  to  each  other,  in  or- 
der that  they  may  pi:efent  fimilar  fervices  to  Man,  under 
Latitudes  entirely  different.  Thus,  the  millet  of  Africa, 
the  maize  of  Brafil,  the  rice  of  Afia,  the  palmfago  of  the 
Moluccas,  the  trunks  of  which  are  filled  with  alimentary 
flower,  are  in  confonance  with  the  corns  of  Europe.  We 
Ihall  find  confonances  of  another  kind  in  the  fame  places, 
as  if  it  had  been  the  intention  of  Nature  to  multiply  her 
benefits,  by  varying  only  the  form  of  them,  without 
changing  almoft  any  thing  of  their  qualities.  Thus,  in 
our  gardens,  what  a  delightful  and  beneficial  confonancy 
between  the  orange  and  citron  trees,  the  apple  and  the 
pear,  the  walnut  and  the  filbert ;  and  in  our  farm  yards, 
between  the  horfe  and  the  afs,  the  goofe  and  the  duck,  tb« 
cow  and  the  (he  goat. 


4l  A  VINDICATION  or 

Farther,  eacK  genus  is  in  confonancy  with  itfelf,  trdm 
tiifference  of  fex.  There  are,  however,  between  the  fexes^ 
contrails  which  give  the  greateft  energy  to  their  loves, 
from  the  very  oppofition  of  contraries,  from  which,  as 
we  have  feen,  all  harmony  takes  its  birth  :  But  without 
the  general  confonancy  of  form  which  is  between  them, 
fenfible  beings  of  the  fame  genus  never  would  have  ap- 
proached each  other.  Without  this,  one  fex  would  have 
forever  remained  a  ftranger  to  the  other.  Before  each 
of  them  could  have  obferved  what  the  other  poffeffed 
that  correfponded  to  its  necefhties,  the  time  of  refleftion 
•would  have  abforbed  that  iof  love,  and,  perhaps,  have  ex- 
linguifhed  all  defire  of  it.  It  is  confonancy  which  at- 
traflis,  and  contrail  which  unites  them.  I  do  not  believe 
ithat  there  is  in  any  one  genus,  an  animal  of  one  fex  en- 
tirely different  from  one  of  the  other,  in  exterior  forms; 
and  if  fuch  differences  are  a£lually  found,  as  certain  Nat- 
uraliils  pretend,  in  feveral  fpecies  of  fifhes  and  infe6ls,  1 
am  fully  perfuaded,  that  Nature  placed  the  habitation  of 
tke  male  and  of  the  female  very  clofe  to  each  other,  and 
^planted  their  nuptial  couch  at  no  great  diftance  from  their 
•cradle. 

But  there  is  a  confonancy  of  forms,  much  more  inti- 
mate Hill  than  even  that  of  the  two  fexes,  1  mean  the  du- 
plicity of  the  organs  which  exifts  in  each  individual.  Ev- 
ery animal  is  double.  If  you  confider  his  two  eyes,  his  two 
noftrils,  his  two  ears,  the  number  of  his  legs  and  arms  dif- 
■pofed  by  pairs,  you  would  be  tempted  to  fay,  here  are  two 
animals  glued  the  one  to  the  other,. and  united  under  the 
fame  Ikin.  Nay,  the  parts  of  his  body  which  are  fmgle,  as 
>the  head,  the  tail,  and  the  tongue,  appear  to  be  formed  of 
two  halves,  compared  together  by  feams.  This  is  not  the 
cafe  with  regard  to  the  members  properly  fo  called  :  For 
-example,  one  hand,  one  ear,  one  eye,  cannot  be  divided  into 
two  fimilar  halves  ;  but  the  duplicity  of  form  in  the  parts 
af  the  body,  dillinguilhes  them  elfentially  from  the  mem- 
bers :  For  the  part  of  the  body  is  double,  and  the  member 


BIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  ^g 

h  fingle  :  The  former  is  always  fingle  and  alone,  and  the 
latter  always  repeated.  Thus,  the  head  and  the  tail  of 
an  animal  are  parts  of  its  body,  and  the  legs  and  ears  of  it 
are  members. 

•This  law  of  Nature,  one  of  the  moft  wonderful  and  one 
of  the  lead  obferved,  deftroys,  at  one  blow,  all  the  hy- 
pothefes  which  introduce  chance  into  the  organization  of 
beings ;  for,  independently  of  the  harmonies  which  it  pre- 
fents,  it  doubles  at  once  the  proofs  of  a  Providence,  which 
did  not  deem  it  fufhcient  to  give  one  principal  oro-an  to 
each  animal,  adapted  to  each  element  in  particular,  fuch 
as  the  eye,  for  the  light  of  the  Sun  ;  the  ear,  for  the  founds 
of  the  air  ;  the  foot,  for  the  ground  which  is  to  fupport  it : 
But  determined,  befides,  that  every  animal  Ihould  have 
each  of  thofe  organs  by  pairs. 

Certain  Sages  have  confidered  this  admirable  duplica- 
tion as  a  predifpofition  of  Providence,  in  order  that  the 
animal  might  have  a  fubllitute  always  at  hand,  to  fupply 
the  lofs  of  one  of  the  double  organs,  expofed  as  they  are 
to  fo  many  accidents  ;  but  it  is  remarkable,  that  the  inte- 
rior parts  of  the  body,  which,  at  firft  fight,  appear  to  be 
fingle,  prefent,  on  clofer  examination,  a  fimilar  duplicity 
ef  forms,  even  in  the  human  body,  where  they  are  more 
confounded  than  in  other  animals.  Thus  the  five  lobes 
of  the  lungs,  one  of  which  has  a  kind  of  divifion  ;  the 
fiffure  of  the  liver  ;  the  fupernal  feparation  of  the  brain, 
by  the  reduplication-of  the  dura  mater  ;  ih^feptum  luci- 
ium,  fimilar  to  a  leaf  of  talc,  which  feparates  the  two  an- 
terior ventricles  of  it  ;  the  two  ventricles  of  the  heart  ■ 
and  the  divifions  of  the  other  vifcera  announce  this  double 
union,  and  feem  to  indicate,  that  the  very  principle  of  life ^ 
IS  the  confonance  of  two  fimilar  harmonies  j^ 

*  Each  organ  is  itfelf  in  oppofition  with  the  element  for  which  it  is  def- 
tined  ;  fo  that  from  their  mutual  oppofuion  arifes  a  harmony  which  confli- 
tutes  the  pieafure  enjoyed  by  that  organ.  This  is  very  remarkable,  and 
confirms  the  principles  which  we  have  laid  down.  Thus,  the  organ  of  vi- 
ilon,  adapted  principally  to  the  Sun,  is  a  body  fingularlv  oppofice  to  him* 

VOL.   11.  & 


so  f  VINDICATION  of 

There  farther  refults  from  this  duplicity  of  organs,  a 
much  more  extenfive  range  of  utility  than  if  they  had' 
been  fmgle.  Man,  by  the  afli fiance  of  two  eyes,  can  take 
in,  at  once,  more  than  half  of  the  Horizon  ;  with  a  fm-- 
gle  one,  he  could  fcarcely  have  embraced  a  third  part. 
Provided  with  two  arms,  he  can  perform  an  infinite  num- 
ber of  a6lions  which  he  never  could  have  accompliflied 
with  one  only  ;  fuch  as  raifing  upon  his  head  a  load  of 
confiderable  fize.  and  weight,  and  clambering  up  a  tree. 
Had  he  been  placed  upon  one  leg,  not  only  would  his  po- 
fnion  be  much  more  unfteady  than  upon  two,  but  he 
would  be  unable  to  walk  \  his  progreflive  motion  would 
be  reduced  to  crawling,  or  hopping.  This  method  of  ad- 
vancing would  be  entirely  difcordant  to  the  conftitution 
of  the  other  parts  of  his  body,  and  to  the  variety  of  foils 
over  which  he  is   deftined  to  move. 

If  Nature  has  given  a  fmgle  exterior  organ  to  animals-, 
fuch  as  the  tail,  it  is  becaufe  the  ufe  of  it,  being  extreme- 
ly limited,  extends  but  to  a  fingle  a8:ion  to  which  it  is 
fully  equivalent.  Befides,  the  tail,  from  its  Ctuation,  is 
fecured  againft  almoft  every  danger.  Farther,  hardly  any 
but  the  very  powerful  animals  have  a  long  tail,  as  bulls, 
horfes  and  lions.  Rabbits  and  hares  have  it  very  fhort. 
In  feeble  animals,  which  have  one  of  confiderable  length, 
as  the  thornback,  it  is  armed  with  prickles,  or  elfe  it  grows 

in  that  it  is  almoft  entirely  aqueous.  The  Sun  emits  luminous  rays  ;  the 
eye,  on  the  contrary,  is  furrounded  by  a  dufky  eyebrow  which  overjfhad- 
ows  it.  The  eye  is,  befides,  veiled  with  a  lid  which  can  be  raifed  and 
dropped  at  pleafure  ;  and  it  farther  oppofes  to  the  whitenefs  of  the  light, 
a  tunic  entirely  black,  called  the  uvca^  which  clothes  the  extremity  of  the 
optic  nerve. 

The  other  parts  of  the  body  prefent,  in  like  manner,  oppofitions  to  the 
a£lion  of  the  elements  to  which  they  are  adapted.  Accordingly,  the  feet 
of  animals  which  fcramble  among  rocks  arc  provided  with  pincers,  as  ihofe 
of  tygers  and  lions.  Animals  which  inhabit  cold  countries,  are  clothed 
with  warm  furs,  and  fo  on.  But,  with  all  this,  wc  muft  not  always  reckon 
on  finding  thefe  contraries  of  the  fame  fpccies  in  every  animal.  Nature 
pofTeffes  an  infinite  variety  of  mcms,  for  producing  the  fame  cffcfts,  coa- 
formably  to  the  ncccflitics  of  every  individual. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  51 

figain,  if  it  happens  to  be  torn  off  by  an  accident,  as  in  the 
c^fe  of  the  lizard.  Finally,  whatever  may  be  the  fimplic- 
ityof  its  uf€,  this  is  remarkable,  it  is  formed  of  two  fim- 
ilar  halves,  as  the  other  parts  of  the  body. 

There  are  other  interior  confonances,  which  colleft 
diagonally,  if  I  may  ufe  theexpr^^ffion,  the  different  organs 
of  the  body,  in  order  to  form  but  one  only  and  (ingle  an- 
imal of  its  two  halves.  I  leave  to  Anatomifts  the  invefti- 
gation  of  this  incomprehenfible  connexion  :  But,  be  their 
knowledge  ever  fo  extenfive,  I  much  doubt  whether  they 
will  ever  be  able  to  trace  the  windings  of  this  labyrinth. 
Why,  for  inftance,  fliould  the  pain  which  attacks  a  foot, 
make  itfelf  felt,  fometimes,  in  the  oppofite  part  of  the 
head,  and  vice  versa?  I  have  feen  a  very  aftonifhing  proof 
of  this  confonance  in  the  cafe  of  a  ferjeant,  who  is  ftill 
living,  I  believe,  in  the  Hofpital  of  Invalids.  This  man 
having  a  fencing  bout  one  day  with  a  comrade,  who,  as 
well  as  himfelf,  made  ufe  of  his  undrawn  fword,  received 
a  thruft  in  the  lacrymal  angle  of  the  left  eye,  which  imme- 
diately deprived  him  of  his  fenfes.  On  coming  to  him- 
felf, which  did  not  happen  till  feveral  hours  afterward, 
he  was  found  to  be  completely  paralytic  in  his  right  leg 
and  right  arm,  and  no  medical  affi fiance  has  ever  been  a- 
ble  to  reftore  the  ufe  of  them.* 

I  muff  here  obferve,  that  the  cruel  experiments  every 
day  made  on  brutes,  in  the  view  of  difcovering  thefe  fecret 
correfpondencies  of  Nature,  ferve  only  to  fpread  a  thicker 

*  This  foldier  was  of  Franche  Corate.  I  never  faw  him  but  once,  and  I 
have  forgotten  his  name,  as  well  as  that  of  the  regiment  to  which  he  belong- 
ed; but  I  have  not  loft  the  recolleftion  of  his  virtuous  conduft,  which  was 
reported  tome  on  undoubted  authority.  M'hen  the  accident  above  related 
ient  him  to  the  Invalids,  be  remembered  that,  in  his  capacity  of  ferjeant, 
he  had  inveigled,  at  the  inftigationof  his  captain,  in  a  country  village,  a. 
young  fellow  tocnllft,  who  was  the  only  fon  of  a  poor  widow,  and  who 
was  killed  three  months  afterward  in  an  engagement.  The  ferjeant  recol- 
lefting  this  aft  of  cruelty  and  injuftice,  formed  the  refolution  of  abflaininaf 
•from  wine.  He  fold  his  allowance  as  a  penfioner  in  the  Hofpittl  of  the 
Invalids,  and  remitted  the  amount  every  fix  months  to  the  mother  whei», 
he  had  robbed  of  her  fan. 


52  A  VINDICATION  OF 

veil  over  them  ;  lor  their  mufcles,  contracied  by  terror 
and  pain,  derange  the  courfe  oF  the  animal  fpirits,  accel- 
erate the  velocity  of  the  blood,  put  the  nerves  into  a  Hate 
of  convulfion,  and  tend  much  rather  to  unhinge  the  ani- 
mal economy,  than  to  unfold  it.  Thefe  barbarous  means, 
employed  by  our  modern  Phyfics,  have  an  influence  ftill 
more  fatal  on  the  morals  of  thofe  who  prafclife  them  ;  lor, 
together  with  falfe  information,  they  infpire  them  with 
the  moil  atrocious  of  all  vices,  which  is  cruelty. 

If  Alan  may  prefumc  to  put  queflions  to  Nature  refpe61:- 
ing  the  operations  which  flieis  pleafed  to  conceal,  I  fhould 
prefer  the  road  of  pleafure  ta  that  of  pain.  Of  the  pro- 
priety of  this  fentiraent,  I  was  witnefs  to  an  inllance,  at  a 
country  feat  in  Normandy.  Walking  in  one  of  the  ad- 
joining fields,  with  a  young  gentleman,  who  was  the  pro- 
prietor of  them,  we  perceived  bulls  a  fighting.  He  ran 
up  to  them,  with  his  fla^f  brandifhed,  and  the  poor  ani- 
mals inftantly  gave  up  their  contention.  He  prefently 
went  up  to  the  mofl  ferocious  of  the  tribe,  and  began  to 
tickle  him,  with  his  fingers,  at  the  root  of  the  tail.  The 
animal,  whofe  eyes  were  ftill  inflamed  with  rage,  became 
motionlefs,  with  outftretched  neck,  expanded  noftrils, 
tranfpirinff  the  air  with  a  fatisfaftion  which  moft  amufing- 
\y  demonftrated  the  intimate  correfpondence  between  this 
extremity  of  his  body  and  his  head. 

The  duplicity  of  organs  is  farther  obfervable^  even  in, 
vegetables,  efpecially  in  their  efFcntinl  parts,  fuch  as  the 
anthtra  of  the  flowers,  which  are  double  bodies  ;  in  their 
petals,  one  half  of  which  correfponds  exaftly  to  the  oth- 
er ;  in  the  lobes  of  their  feed,  Sec.  A  fingle  one  of  thefe 
parts,  however,  appears  to  me  fufhclent  for  the  expanfioa 
and  the  generation  of  the  plant.  This  obfervation  might 
be  extended  to  the  very  leaves,  the  two  halves  of  which 
are  correfpondent  in  moft  vegetables  ;  and  if  any  one  of 
them  recedes  from  this  order,  it  is,  undoubtedly,  for  forac 
particular  reafon,  well  worthy  of  invcftigation. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  33 

Thefe  fa£ls  confirm  the  diftinftion  which  we  have  made 
between  the  parts  and  the  members  of  a  body  :  For  in  the 
leaves  where  this  duplicity  occurs,  the  vegetative  faculty 
is  ufually  to  be  found,  which  is  diffufed  over  the  body  of 
the  vegetable  itfelf.  So  that  if  you  carefully  replant 
thofe  leaves,  and  at  the  proper  feafon,  you  will  fee  the 
complete  vegetable  thence  reproduced.  Perhaps,  it  is 
becaufe  the  interior  organs  of  the  tree  are  double,  that 
the  principle  of  vegetative  life  is  diffufed  even  over  its 
flips,  as  we  fee  it  in  a  great  number  which  fprout  again 
from  one  branch.  Nay,  there  are  forae  which  have  the 
power  of  perpetuating  themfelves  by  cuttings  fimply. 
Of  this  we  have  a  noted  inllance  in  the  memoirs  of  the 
Academy  of  Sciences.  Two  fiflers,  on  the  death  of  theii* 
mother,  became  heirefTes  of  an  orange  tree.  Each  of 
them  infifled  on  having  it  thrown  into  her  allotment. 
At  length,  after  much  wrangling,  and  neither  being  dif-i 
pofed  to  refign  her  claim,  it  was  fettled  that  the  tree 
fhould  be  cleft  in  two,  and  each  take  her  half.  The- 
orange  tree,  accordingly,  underwent  the  judgment  pro- 
nounced by  Solomon  on  the  child.  It  Vv^as  cleft  afunder  ; 
each  of  the  fifters  replanted  her  own  half,  and,  wonderful 
to  be  told  \  the  tree,  which  had  been  feparated  by  fiilerlv- 
animofity,  received  a  new  clothing  of  bark  from  the  be- 
nignant hand  of  Nature. 

It  is  this  univerfal  confonance  of  forms  which  has  fug- 
gefled  to  Man  the  idea  of  fymmetry.  He  has  introduced 
it  into  moff  of  his  works  of  art,  and  particularly  into 
Architefture,  as  an  eiTential  part  of  order.  To  fuch  a 
degree,  in  faft,  is  it  the  work  of  intelligence  and  of  com.- 
bination,  that  I  confider  it  as  the  principal  characler  by 
which  we  are  enabled  to  diftinguifh  all  organized  bodies 
from  fuch  as  are  not  fo,  and  are  only  refults  of  a  fortu- 
itous aggregation,  however  regular  their  afTembiyge  may 
appear  ;  fuch  as  thofe  which  produce  cryflallizations, 
efflorefcences, -chemical  vegetations,  and  igneous  efPufions. 


54  A  VINDICATION  o? 

It  was  in  conformity  to  thefe  refle£lion5  that,  on  con- 
fidering  the  Globe  of  the  Earth,  I  obferved  with  the 
greatefl  furprife,  that  it  too  prefented,  like  every  organiz- 
ed hody,  a  duplicity  of  form.  From  the  beginning  it  had 
been  my  thought,  that  this  Globe  being  the  production  of 
in  Intelligence,  order  muft  of  neceflity  pervade  it.  I  had 
difcerned,  and  admired,  the  utility  of  iflands,  and  even  of 
that  of  banks,  of  Ihelves,  and  of  rocks,  to  protect  the  parts 
of  the  Continents  which  are  moft  expofed  to  the  Currents 
of,  the  Ocean,  at  the  extremities  of  which  they  are  always 
fituated.  I  had,  in  like  manner,  difcerned  the  utility  of 
bays,  which  are,  on  the  contrary,  removed  from  the  Cur- 
rents of  the  Ocean,  and  hollowed  into  deep  retreats  t® 
ihelter  the  difcharge  of  rivers,  and  to  ferve,  by  the  tran- 
g^uillity  of  their  waters,  as  an  afylum  to  the  fiflies,  which 
in  all  feas  retire  thither  in  fhoals,  to  colleft  the  fpoils  of 
vegetation,  and  the  alluvions  of  the  Land,  which  are  there 
^ifgorged  by  the  rivers.  I  had  admired,  in  detail,  the 
proportions  of  their  different  fabrics,  but  had  formed  no 
conception  of  their  combination.  My  mind  was  bewil- 
dered araidfl  fuch  a  multiplicity  of  cuttings  and  carvings, 
of  land  and  fea  ;  and  I  fhould,  without  hefitation,  have 
afcribed  the  whole  to  chance,  had  not  the  order,  which  I 
perceived  in  each  of  the  parts,  fuggefted  to  me  the  poiTi- 
bility,  that  there  might  exift  order  alfo,  in  the  totality  of 
the  Work. 

I  am  now  going  to  difplay  the  Globe  under  a  new  af- 
pect.  The  Reader,  will,  I  hope,  forgive  this  digreffion, 
which  exhibits  to  him  one  little  fragment  of  the  materials  I 
had  laid  up,  for  a  geographical  ftr-ufture,  but  which  tends  to 
prove  the  univerfality  of  the  natural  Laws,  whofe  exiftence 
lam  endeavouring  to  eftablilh.  I  fhall  be,  as  ufual,  rap- 
id and  fuperficial  :  But  it  is  a  matter  of  very  inferior  im- 
portance to  myfelf,  fhould  I  enfeeble  ideas,  which  I  have 
not  been  permitted  to  arrange  in  their  natural  order,  pro- 
vided I  am  enabled  to  tranfmit  the  germ  of  them  into  a 
head  fupcrior  to  my  own. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  55. 

I  firft  endeavouried  to  find  out  confonances  between  the 
northern  and  fouthern  halves  of  the  Globe.  But  fo  far 
from  difcovering  refemblances  between  them,  I  perceiv- 
ed nothing  but  oppofitions  ;  the  northern  being,  if  I  may 
fo  exprefs  myfelf,  a  terreftrial  Hemifphere  only,  and  the 
fouthern  a  maritime  ;  and  fo  different  from  each  other, 
that  the  Winter  of  the  one  is  the  Summer  of  the  other  ; 
and  that  the  feas  of  the  firft  Hemifphere  feem  to  be  op- 
pofed  to  the  lands,  and  to  the  iflands,  which  are  fcattered 
over  the  fecond.  This  contraft  prefented  to  me  another 
analogy  with  an  organized  body  :  For,  as  we  fhall  fee  in 
the  following  articles,  every  organized  body  has  two 
halves  in  contraft,  as  there  are  two  in  confonance. 

I  found  in  it  then,  under  this  new  afpeft,  fomething 
like  an  analogy  with  an  animal,  the  head  of  which  ftiould 
have  been  to  the  North,  from  the  attraction  of  the  magnet, 
peculiar  to  our  Pole,  which  feems  there  to  fix  zfe?iforium,-. 
as  in  the  head  of  an  animal  :  The  heart  under  the  Line, 
from  the  conftant  heat  which  prevails  in  the  Torrid  Zone, 
and  which  feems  to  determine  this  as  the  region  of  the 
heart  ;  finally,  the  excretory  organs  in  the  fouthern  part, 
in  which  the  greateft  Seas,  the  vaft  receptacles  of  the  allu- 
vions of  Continents,  are  fituated  ;  and  where  we,  like- 
wife,  find  the  greateft  number  of  volcanoes,  which  may 
be  confidered  as  the  excretory  organs  of  the  Seas,  whofe 
bitumens  and  fulphurs  they  are  inceffantly  confumino-. 
Befides,  the  Sun,  who  fojourns  five  or  fix  days  longer  in 
the  Northern  Hemifphere,  feemed  to  prefent  to  me  a  far- 
ther, and  a  more  marked,  refemblance  to  the  body  of  an 
animal,  in  which  the  heart,  the  centre  of  heat,  is  fome- 
what  nearer  to  the  head,  than  to  the  lower  extremities. 

Though  thefe  contrafts  appeared  to  me  fufficiently  de- 
terminate to  manifeft  an  order  on  the  Globe,  and  thouah 
I  perceived  fomething  fimilar  in  vegetables,  diftinguifh- 
ed  as  they  are  into  two  parts,  oppofite  in  funftions  and  in 
forms,  fuch  as  the  leaves  and  the  roots  ;  I  was  afraid  of 
giving  fcope  to  my  imagination,  and  of  attempting  to  gen- 


^S  A  VINDICATION  or 

cralife,  througli  the  weaknefs  of  the  human  mirld,  the? 
Laws  of  Nature  peculiar  to  each  cxiflcnce,  by  extending 
them  to  kingdoms,  which  were  not  fufceptible  of  the  ap- 
plication. 

But  1  ceafed  to  doubt  of  the  general  order  of  the  Globe, 
Avhen,  with  two  halves  in  contraft,  I  found  two  others  in 
confonance.  I  was  ftruck  with  aftonifhment,  1  mufl  con- 
fefs,  when  I  obferved,  in  the  duplicity  of  forms  which 
conftitute  it,  members  exaftly  repeated  on  that  fide  and 
on  this. 

The  Globe,  if  we  conhder  it  from  Eaft  to  Weft,  is  di- 
vided, as  all  organized  bodies  are,  into  two  fimilar  halves, 
which  are  the  Old  and  the  New  World.  Each  of  their 
parts  mutually  correfponds  in  the  eaftern  and  weftern 
Hemifpheres  ;  fea  to  fea,  ifland  to  ifland,  cape  to  cape, 
peninfula  to  peninfula.  The  lakes  oi  Finland,  and  the 
gulf  of  Archangel,  correfpond  to  the  lakes  of  Canada, 
and  Baffin's  bay  ;  Nova  Zembla  to  Greenland  ;  the  Bal- 
tic to  Hudfon's  bay ;  the  Iflands  of  Greatbritain  and  Ire- 
land, which  cover  the  firft  of  thefe  mediterraneans,  to  the 
Iflands  of  Good  Fortune  and  Welcome,  which  proteft  the 
fecond  ;  the  Mediterranean,  properly  fo  called,  to  the  gulf 
of  Mexico,  which  is  a  kind  o^  mediterranean,  formed,  in 
part,  by  iflands.  At  the  extremity  of  the  Mediterranean, 
we  find  the  ifthmus  of  Suez  in  confonance  with  the  ifth- 
mus  of  Panama,  placed  at  the  bottom  of  the  gulf  of  Mex- 
ico. Conjoined  by  thofc  ifthmufes,  the  peninfula  of  A- 
frica  prefents  itfelf  in  the  Old  World,  and  the  peninfula 
of  South  America  in  the  New.  The  principal  rivers  ot 
thefe  diviflons  of  the  Globe  front  each  other  in  like  man- 
ner ;  for  the  Senegal  difcharges  itfelf  into  the  Atlantic, 
d'reflly  oppofite  to  the  river  of  the  Amazons.  Finally, 
each  of  thefe  peninfulas,  advancing  toward  the  South 
Pole,  terminates  in  a  cape  equally  noted  for  violent  tem- 
pefts,  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  Ca])e  Horn. 

There  are,  befides,  between  thefe  two  Hemifpheres,  a 
variety  of  other  points  of  confonance,  on  which   I  fliall 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  57 

mo  longei-  infill.  Thefe  difFerent  particulars,  it  is  admit- 
ted, do  not  correfpond  in  exaftly  the  fame  Latitudes  ; 
but  they  are  difpofed  in  the  direction  of  a  fpiral  line  wind- 
ing from  Eaft  to  Weft,,  and  extending  frdm  North  to 
South,  fo  that  thefe  correfponding  points  proceed  in  a 
regular  progreiTion.  They  are  nearly  of  the  fame  height, 
fetting  out  from  the  North,  as  the  Baltic  and  Hudfon's 
bay  ;  and  they  lengthen  in  America,  in  proportion  as  it 
advances  toward  the  South.  This  progreffion  makes  it- 
felf  farther  perceptible  aloiig  the  whole  length  of  the  Old 
Continent,  as  may  be  feen  from  the  form  of  its  Capes, 
which,  taking  the  point  of  departure  from  the  Eaft,  length- 
en fo  much  the  more  toward  the  South,  as  they  advance 
toward  the  Weft ;  fuch  as  the  Cape  of  Kamfchatka,  iii 
Afia ;  Cape  Comorin,  in  Arabia ;  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  in  Africa;  and,  finally,   Cape  Horn,  in  America. 

Thefe  differences  of  proportion  are  to  be  accounted 
for  from  this,  that  the  two  terreftrial  Hemifpheres  are 
not  projefted  in  the  fame  manner;  for  the  Old  Conti- 
nent has  its  greafeft  breadth  from  Eaft  t»  Weft,  and  the 
New  has  its  greater  extent  from  North  to  South  ;  and  it 
is  manifeft,  that  this  difference  of  projeftion  has  been  reg- 
ulated by  the  Author  of  Nature,  for  the  fame  reafons 
which  induced  Him  to  beftow  double  parts  on  animals 
and  on  vegetables,  in  order  that,  if  neceffity  required,  the 
one  might  fupply  what  was  deficient  in  the  other,  but 
principally  that  fhey  might  be  of  mutual  affiftance. 

If,  for  example,  there  exifted  only  the  Ancient  Con- 
tinent, with  the  South  Sea  alone,  the  motion  of  that  Sea 
being  too  much  accelerated,  under  the  Line,  by  the  regu- 
lar v\4nds  from  the  Eaft,  would,  after  having  furrounded 
the  Torrid  Zone,  advance  with  incredible  fury,  and  attack 
tremendoufly  the  Land  of  Japan  :  For  the  fize  of  the  bil- 
lows of  a  Sea,  is  always  lu  proportion  to  its  extent.  But 
from  the  difpofition  of  the  two  Continents,  the  billows 
of  the  great  eaftern  Current  of  the  Indian  Ocean,  arc 
prartly  retarded   by  th.e  archipelagos  of  the  Moluccas  an4 

VOL.    U.  H 


^^  A  VINDICATION  OF 

Philippine  Iflands  ;  they  are  flill  farther  broken  by  othcF 
iflands,  fuch  as  the  Maldivia,  by  the  Capes  of  Arabia,  and 
by  that  of  Good  tlope,  which  throws  them  back  toward 
the  South.  Before  they  reach  Cape  Horn,  they  have  tO; 
encounter  new  obftacles,  from  the  Current  of  the  South 
Pole,  which  then  crofTes  their  courfc,  and  the  change  of 
the  monfoon,  which  totally  deflroys  the  caufe  of  the  com- 
rnotion  at  the  end  of  fix  months.  Thus,  there  is  not  a 
fingle  Current,  be  it  eafterly  or  northerly,  which  pervades. 
fo  much  as  a  quarter  of  the  Globe,  in  the  fame  direftion. 
Befides,  the  divifion  of  the  parts  of  the  Globe  into  two, 
is  fo  neceffary  to  its  general  harmony,  that  if  the  channel 
of  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  which  feparates  them,  had  no  ex- 
iftence,  or  were  in  part  filled  up,  according  to  a  fuppofition 
once  entertained,  by  the  great  ifland  Atlantis,*  all  the  ori- 
ental rivers  of  America,  and  all  the  occidental  of  Europq 
would  be  dried  up  ;  for  thofe  rivers  owe  their  fupplies 
only  to  the  clouds  which  emanate  from  the  Sea.  Be- 
fides, the  Sun  enlightening,  on  our  fide,  only  one  terref- 
trial  Hemifphere,  the  mediterraneans  of  which  would  dif- 
appear,  muft  burn  it  up  with  his  rays  ;  and  at  the  fame 
time,  as  he  warmed,  on  the  other  fide,  a  Hemifphere  of 
water  only,  moft  of  the  iflands  of  which  would  fink  of 
courfe,  becaufe  the  quantity  of  that  Sea  mufl  be  increafed 
by  the  fubtraftion  of  ours,  an  immenfity  of  vapour  would 
arife,  and  go  merely  to  wafte. 

It  would  appear  that,  from  thefe  confi derations.  Na- 
ture has  not  placed  m  the  Torrid  Zone  the  greateft  length 
of  the  Continents,  but  only  the  mean  breadth  of  America 
and  of  Africa,  becaufe  the  aQion  of  the  Sun  would  there 
Iiavc  been  too  vehement.  She  has  placed  there,  on  thq 
conuary,  the  longcll  diameter  of  the  South  Sea,  and  the 
greateft  breadth  of  the  Atlantic  O.cean,  and  there  flie  has 
l'.olleaed  the  greateft  quantity  of  iflands  in  exiftence. 
yarthcr,  ihc  has  placed  in  the  breadth  of  the  Continents, 

*  A  fabulous   ifland   imagined  hy  Plcto,  \s  has   been   demonftiatcd  bj^, 
r.3ny  learned  men,  all.-orically  lo  rep;efeir.  the  Aiheaiaa  Government..      ^ 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  ^^ 

which  fhe  has  there  lengthened  out,  the  greateft  bodies  ot 
running  water  that  are  in  the  World,  all  ifluing  from 
mountains  of  ice  ;  fuch  as  the  Senegal  and  the  Nile,  which 
iffue  from  the  mountains  of  the  Moon  in  Africa;  the  A- 
mazon  and  the  Oroonoko,  which  have  their  fources  in 
the  Cordeliers  of  America. 

Again,  it  is  for  this  reafon  that  fhe  has  multiplied,  in 
the  Torrid  Zone,  and  in  its  vicinity,  lofty  chains  of  moun- 
tains covered  with  fnow,  and  that  {he  direfts  thither  the 
winds  of  the  North  Pole  and  of  the  South  Pole,  of  which 
the  Trade  winds  always  partake.  And  it  is  very  remark- 
<ible,  that  feveral  of  the  great  rivers  which  flow  there,  are 
not  fituated  precifely  under  the  Line,  but  in  regions  of 
the  Torrid  Zone,  which  are  hotter  than  the  Line  itfelfv 
Thus,  the  Senegal  rolls  its  ftream  in  the  vicinity  of  Zara^ 
t)r  the  Defert,  which,  if  we  may  credit  the  concurring  tef- 
timony  of  all  travellers,  is  the  hotteft  part  of  Africa. 

From  all  this  taken  together,  we  have  a  glimpfe  of  the 
neceflitv  of  two  Continents,  to  ferve  mutually  as  a  check 
to  the  movements  of  the  Ocean.  It  is  impoffible  to  con- 
ceive how  Nature  could  have  difpofed  them  otherwife, 
than  by  extending  one  of  them  lengthways,  and  the  other 
in  breadth,  in  order  that  the  oppofed  Currents  of  their 
Ocean  might  balance  each  other,  and  that  there  might 
ihence  refult  a  harmony,  adapted  to  their  fhores,  and  tQ 
the  iflands  contained  irl  their  bafons. 

Were  we  to  fuppofe  thefe  two  Continents  projefted 
t:ircularly,  from  Eaft  to  Weft,  under  the  two  temperate 
Zones,  the  circulation  of  the  Sea  contained  between  the 
two,  would  be  as  we  have  feen,  too  violently  accelerated 
hy  the  conftant  aflion  of  the  Eaft  wind.  There  could  be 
no  longer  any  communication  by  Sea,  from  the  Line  to- 
ward the  Poles  ;  confeqiiently,  no  icy  eff'ufions  in  that 
Ocean,  no  tides,  no  cooling,  and  no  renovation,  of  its 
waters.  If  we  fuppofe,  on  the  contrary,  both  Ccvntinents 
extended  from  North  to  South,  as  America  is,  there  woul<i 
^^e  no  longer  any  oriental  Current  in  tlie  Ocean  ;  the  tw<» 


6o  .  A  VINDICATION  of 

halves  of  each  Sea  would  meet  in  the  midft  of  their  chart- 
nel,  and  their  polar  effufions  would  there  encounter  each 
other  with  an  impetuofity  of  commotion,  of  which  the  icy 
effufions  precipitated  frojn  the  Alps,  with  all  the  dreadful 
ravages  which  they  commit,  convey  but  a  faint  idea.  But 
by  the  alternate  and  oppofite  Currents  of  the  Seas,  the  icy 
effufions  of  f  ur  Pole  proceed,  in  Summer,  to  cool  Africa, 
BrafU,  and  the  fouthern  parts  of  Afia,  forcing  its  way  be- 
yond the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  by  the  Monfoon  which 
then  carries  the  Current  of  the  Ocean  toward  the  Eaft; 
and,  during  our  Winter,  the  effufions  of  the  Soiuh  Pole 
proceed  toward  the  Weft,  to  moderate,  on  the  fame  fhores, 
the  a6lion  oi  the  Sun,  which  is  there  unremitting.  By 
means  of  thefe  two  fpiral  motions  of  the  Seas,  fimilar  to 
thofe  of  the  Sun  in  the  Heavens,  there  is  not  a  fmgle  drop 
of  water  but  what  may  make  the  tour  of  the  Globe,  by  e- 
vaporation  under  the  Line,  diffolution  into  rain  in  the 
Continent,  and  congelation  under  the  Pole.  Thefe  uni- 
verfal  correfpondeneies  are  fo  much  the  more  worthy  of 
being  remarked,  that  they  enter  into  all  the  plans  of  Na- 
ture, and  prefent  themfelves  in  the  reft  of  her  Works. 

From  any  other  imaginable  wrder  would  refult  other  in- 
conveniencies,  which  I  leave  the  Reader  to  find  out.  Hy- 
pothefes  ab  abjurdo,  arc  at  once  amufing  and  ufeful  ;  they 
change,  it  is  true,  natural  proportions  into  caricatures ;  but 
they  have  this  advantage,  that,  by  convincing  us  of  the 
weaknefs  of  our  own  underftanding,  they  imprefs  us  with 
a  deep  fenfe  of  the  wifdqm  of  Nature,  Let  us  recolle6l 
the  Socratic  method  of  ratiocination.  Do  not  let  us  waftc 
our  time  in  overturning  fyfteras  which  prefent  to  us  plans 
different  from  thofe  we  fee.  Let  us  only  deduce  cpnfe- 
quences  from  them  :  To  admit  them  is  complete  refuta« 
tion. 

.  1  could  farther  demonftrate,  that  moft  iflands  themfelves 
confjft  of  double  parts,  as  the  Continents,  of  which,  as  I 
have  elfe\yhcre  fald,  they  are  abridgments,  frpm  their 
|!caks,  their  mountains,   their  lakes,  and  tlieir  rivers,  pror 


DIVINE  PR0V1D1ENC2.  61 

portioned  to  their  extent.  Many  of  thofe  which  are  fU- 
uated  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  have,  if  I  may  To  exprels.  rny- 
felf,  two  Hemifpheres,  the  one  oiiental,  the  atUer  occi^ 
dental,  divided  by  mountains:  which  go  from  North  to 
South,  fo  that  when  it  is  Winter  on  one  fide,  Summer 
reigns  on  the  other,  and  reciprocally  ;  fuch  are  the  iflan,d{? 
of  Java,  Sumatra,  Borneo,  and  moft  of  the  Philippines  and 
Moluccas  ;  fo  that  they  are  evidently  conftru6ied  for  the 
two  A4onfoons  of  the  Ocean  in  which  they  are  placed. 

Did  time  perniit,  the  varieties  of  their  conftru8:ion, 
would  furnifh  me  with  many  curious  remarks,  tending  to 
confirm,  in  particular,  what  I  have  faid,  in  general,  ref- 
pefting  the  confonances  of  the  Globe.  For  my  own 
part,  I  believe  thefe  principles  of  order  to  be  fo  certain, 
that  I  am  perfuaded  it  might  be  poflible,  on  feeing  the 
plan  of  an  ifland,  with  the  elevation  and  the  direftion  of 
its  mountains,  to  afcertain  its  longitude,  its  latitude,  and 
what  are  the  winds  which  moft  regularly  blow  there.  Na}% 
I  farther  believe,  that  with  thefe  iafk  given,  we  might, 
vice  vsr/iz,  trace  the  plan  and  fliape  of  an  ifland,  fituated 
in  whatever  part  of  the  Ocean.  From  this,  however,  I 
except  fluviatic  iflands,  and  fuch  as,  being  too  fmall  of 
themfelves,  are  coliefted  into  archipelagos,  as  the  Maldi- 
vias  ;  becaufe  fuch  iflands  have  not  the  centre  of  all  their 
adaptations  in  themfelves,  but  are  fubordinated  to  the,  ad- 
joining rivers,  ai'chipelagos,  and  continents.  -  f 

It  is  indubitably  .certain  that  I  advance  no  paradox, 
when  1  compare,  between  the  Tropics,  the  general  form 
•of  tlie  iflands  which  are  expofed  to  the  two  Monfoons, 
and  that  of  the  iflands  which  are  under  the  regular  Eaft 
wind.  We  have  juft  obferved,  that  Nature  had  given,  in 
a  certain  fenfe,  two  Hemifpheres  to  the  finf,  in  dividing 
them  through  the  middle  by  a  chain  of  mountains  running 
North  and  South,  in  order  that  they  might  receive  the  al- 
ternate influences  of  the  Eaft  and  Weft  winds,  which 
i)low  there,  by  turns,  fix  months  of  the  year;  but  in  the 
iflands  fituated  in  the  South  Sea  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean, 


6ft  A  VINDICATION  op 

where  the  Eaft  wind  blo^vs  inceJGTantly  from  the  fame  quar=» 
ter,  fhe  has  placed  the  mountains  at  the  extremity  of  the 
Land,  in  the  part  moft  remote  from  the  wind,  that  the 
brooks  and  rivers  formed  from  the  clouds,  which  are  ac- 
cumulated by  that  wind  on  their  peaks,  may  flow  through 
the  whole  extent  of  thefe  ifles. 

I  am  fenfible  that  I  have  elfewhere  related  thefe  lafl 
obfervations,  but  I  here  prefent  them  in  a  new  light.  Be- 
lides,  fhould  I  fometimes  fall  into  repetition,  there  can  be 
no  great  harm  in  repeating  new  truths,  and  fome  indul- 
gence is  due  to  the  weaknefs  of  him  who  announces  them. 


OF  PROGRESSION. 


Progreflion  is  a  feries  of  confonances,  afcending  or  de- 
fcending.  Wherever  we  meet  progrelTion,  it  produces 
'cxquifite  pleafure,  becaufe  it  excites  in  our  foul  the  fen- 
timent  of  infinity^  fo  conformable  to  our  nature.  I  have 
already  faid,  and  it  cannot  be  repeated  too  frequently: 
Phyfical  fenfations  delight  us  only  in  fo  far  as  they  awaken 
^n  intelleftual  fentiment. 

When  the  leaves  of  a  vegetable  are  arranged  round  its 
branches,  in  the  fame  order  that  the  branches  themfelves 
>Rre  round  the  ftem,  there  is  confonancy,  as  in  pines  ;  but 
if  the  branches  of  that  vegetable  are  farther  difpofed  a- 
mong  themfelves,  on  fimilar  plans,  which  go  on  diminifh- 
ing  in  magnitude,  as  in  the  pyramidical  form  of  firs> 
there  is  progreflion  ;  and  if  thefe  trees  are  themfelves  dif- 
pofed in  long  avenues,  decrcafing  in  height  and  in  colour- 
ing, like  their  particular  mafs,  our  pleafure  is  heightened^ 
becaufe  the  progrelhon  becomes  infinite. 

From  this  inflinft  of  infinity  it  is  that  we  take  pleafure 
in  viewing  every  objeft  which  prefents  us  with  a  progref- 
fion  ;  as  nurfery   grounds,  containing  plants  ot  diflerem 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  6.^ 

ages,  hills  flying  ofF  to  the  Horizon  in  fucceffive  elevations, 
perfpeftives  without  a  termination. 

Montefqiaeu  has,  nevertheiefs,  remarked  that,  if  the 
road  from  Peteriburg  to  Mofcow  is  in  a  ftraight  line,  the 
traveller  muft  die  upon  it  with  languor.  I  have  perform- 
ed that  journey,  and  can  confidently  affirm,  from  perfonal 
knowledge,  that  the  road  is  very  far  from  being  in  a 
ftraight  line.  But  admitting  it  to  be  fo,  the  languor  of 
the  traveller  would  arife  from  the  very  fentiment  of  in- 
finity, joined  to  the  idea  of  fatigue.  It  is  this  fame  fen- 
timent, fo  delicious  when  it  blends  with  our  pleafures, 
which  overwhelms  us  with  anguifh  unutterable  when  con- 
nefted  with  calamity  ;  as  we  but  too  frequently  experience. 
However,  I  believe  that  we  ftiould  fink,  at  length,  under 
the  weight  of  an  unbounded  perfpeftive,  from  its  prefent- 
ing  infinity  to  us,  always  in  the  fame  manner ;  for  our 
foul  has  not  only  the  inftinft  of  it,  but  likewife  that  of 
univerfality,  that  is,  of  every  polTible  modification  of  in- 
finity. 

Nature  has  not  formed,  after  our  limited  manner,  per- 
fpeftives  with  one  or  two  confonances ;  but  fhe  compofes 
them  of  a  multitude  of  diflerent  progreffions,  by  introduc- 
ing that  of  plans,  magnitudes,  forms,  colours,  move- 
ments, ages,  kinds,  groups,  feafons,  latitudes,  and  combine 
ing  with  thefe  an  infinity  of  confonances,  deduced  from 
reflexes  of  light,  of  waters,  of  founds. 

Let  me  fuppofe  that  fhe  had  been  limited  to  the  plan- 
tation  of  an  avenue  from  Paris  to  Madrid,  with  one  fingle 
genus  of  trees,  fay  the  fig ;  I  do  not  apprehend  1  fhould 
tire  on  performing  that  journey.  I  fhould  fee  upon  it 
one  fpecies  ot  the  fig  tree  bearing  the  fruit  called  by  the 
Latins  mamillana,^  becaufe  it  had  a  refemblance  to  a  wo- 
man's breafl,  in  Latin  inamilla  :  Another  fpecies,  with 
figs  quite  red,  and  not  bigger  than  an  olive,  fuch  as  tliofe 
of  Mount  Ida;  another   with   white   fruit;   with   blacky 


6i|>  A  VINDICATION  of 

ofth;i  coldiir  of  porphyry,  and  thence  called^  l>y  the  An- 
cients, porphyritcc.  In  thfe  courfe  df  this  track  would 
likewifo  occur  the  fig  tree  of  Hyrcania,  loaded  with  more 
than  two  hundred  bufhels  of  fruit  \  the  runiinal  fig  tree, 
the  fpecies  under  the  fiiade  of  which  Romulus  and  Remus 
were  ftickled  by  ^  flie  wolf;  the  fig  tree  of  IUycuUs ;  in 
^  word,  the  nineteen  fpCcies  enumerated  by  Pliny ^  and  a 
great  variety  of  others,  unknown  to  the  Romans  ahd  to 
lis.  Each  of  thefe  fpecies  df  trees  would  exhibit  vcgcta-: 
bles  of  various  magnitude;  young,  old,  lulitary,  in  cluf- 
ters;  fome  planted  by  the  brink  of  tivulets,  fome  ifTuing 
from  the  clefts  of  rocks.  Each  tree  would  prefent  the 
farhe  variety  in  its  fruits  ex-pofed,  oii  one  fingle  footj  if 
1  may  ufe  the  expreflion,  to  different  Latitudes,  to  the 
South,  {g  the  Norths  to  the  Eaft,  to  the  Weft,  to  the  Sun, 
and  under  fhade  of  the  leaves  :  Some  of  them  would  be 
greeii,  and  juil  beginning  to  fhoot,  others  violet,  and 
cracked,  their  crevices  ftored  with  honey.  On  the  ottier 
hand,  we  Ihould  find  fome,  under  different  Latitudes,  in 
the  fanie  degree  of  maturity^  as  if  they  hung  upon  the 
fame  tree,  thofe  which  grow  to  the  North  beings  in  the 
bottohi  of  valleys,  fometimes  as  forward  as  thofe  whicli, 
though  much  farther  to  the  South,  ripen  more  flowly, 
from  their  fituation  on  the  tops  of  mountains. 

Thefe  progrefiions  are  to  be  found  in  the  minutefl  of 
the  works  of  Nature,  and  of  which  they  conflitute  the 
principal  charm.  They  are  not  the  effe^l  of  any  mechan- 
ical Law.  They  have  been  apj)ortioned  to  each  vegeta- 
ble, for  the  purpofe  of  prolonging  the  enjoyment  of  its 
fruit,  conformably  to  the  wants  of  Man.  Thus  the  aque- 
ous and  cooling  fruits,  fuch  as  thofe  of  a  ruddy  hue,  ap, 
pear  ohly  during  the  feafon  of  heat ;  others,  which  were 
heceffary  in  the  Winter  time,  from  their  nutrimcntal 
flours,  and  their  oils,  as  chefuuts  and  walnuts,  are  capable 
wpf  being  preferved  a  confiderable  part  of  the  year.  But 
thofe  which  are  dcfigned  to  fupply  the  accidental  dc- 
Inlands  of  M^nUind,  thofe  of  travellers  and  navigators,  iov 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  6^ 

ihilartce,  remain  on  the  earth  at  all  times.  Not  only  are 
thefe  laft  inclofed  in  fliells,  adapted  to  their  prefervation, 
but  they  appear  upon  the  tree,  at  all  feafons,  and  in  every' 
degree  of  maturity.  In  tropical  countries,  on  the  unin- 
habited ftiores  of  the  iflands,*  the  cocoa  tree  bears,  at 
once,  twelve  or  fifteen  clufters  of  cocoa  nuts,  fome  of 
which  are  ftill  in  the  bud;  others  are  in  flower;  oth- 
ers are  knit;  others  are  already  full  of  milk  ;  and,  finally, 
fome  are  in  a  flate  of  perfeft  maturity.  The  cocoa  is  the 
feaman's  tree. 

It  is  riot  the  heat  of  the  Tropics  which  gives  to  this 
tree  a  fecundity  fo  conftant,  and  fo  varied;  for  the  fruits 
of  the  trees  have,  in  the  Indies,  as  in  our  climates,  feafons 
of  ripening,  and  after  which  they  are  feen  no  more  till  the 
feafort  returns,  I  know  of  no  other,  except  the  cocoa 
tree  and  the  banana,  which  are  in  fruit  all  the  year  round. 
This  laft  mentioned  plant  is,  in  my  opinion  the  moft  ufe- 
ftil  in  the  World,  becaufe  its  fruit  makes  excellent  food, 
without  any  art  of  cookery,  having  a  moft  agreeable  fla- 
vour, and  pofleflTmg  very  nutrlmental  qualities.  It  pro- 
duces a  clufter,  or  aggregation,  of  fixty  or  fourfcore  fruit, 
which  come  to  maturity  all  at  once  ;  but  it  puflies  out 
fhoots  of  every  degree  of  magnitude,  which  bear  in  fuc- 
ceflion,  and  at  all  times.  The  progrefTion  of  fruits  in  the 
cocoa,  is  in  the  tree,  and  that  oi  the  fruits  of  the  banana 
is  in  the  plantation.  Univerfally,  that  which  is  moft  ufe- 
ful,  is  likewife  moft  common. 

The  produ6lions  of  our  cornfields  and  vineyards  pre- 
fent  difpofitions  ftill  more  wonderful ;  for,  though  the  ear 
of  corn  has  feveral  faces,  its  grains  come  to  maturity  at 
the  fame  time,  from  the  mobility  of  its  ftraw,  which  pre- 
fents  them  to  all  the  afpefts  of  the  Sun.  The  vine  does 
not  grow  in  form  of  a  bufti',  nor'  of  a  tree  ;  but  in  hedge 
rows ;  and  though  its  berries  be  arranged  in  form  of  cluf- 
ters, their  tfanfparency  renders  them  throughout  penetra- 

*  Sec  Francis  Pyrard's^Voyi^c  l«  the  Maldlvias. 
VOL*    II.  I 


66  A  VINDICATION  o? 

ble  by  the  rays  of  the  Sun.  Nature  thus  lays  men  under 
the  neceflity,  from  the  fpontaneous  maturity  of  thefe  fruits, 
deftined  to  the  general  fupport  of  human  life,  to  unite 
their  labours,  and  mutually  alTiil  each  other  in  the  pleaf- 
ant  toils  of  the  harveft  and  the  vintage.  The  cornfield 
and  the  vineyard  may  be  confidered  as  the  mod  powerful 
cements  of  focicty.  Bacchus  and  CereSy  accordingly,  were 
regarded,  in  ancient  times,  as  the  firft  Legiflators  of  the 
Human  Race.  The  Poets  of  antiquity  frequently  diftin- 
guifh  them  by  this  honourable  appellation.  An  Indian, 
under  his  banaaa  and  his  cocoa  tree,  can  do  extremely 
well  without  his  neighbour.  It  is  for  this  reafon,  I  be- 
lieve, rather  than  from  the  nature  of  the  climate,  which  is 
there  fo  mild,  that  there  are  fo  few  republics  in  India,  and 
fo  many  governments  founded  in  force.  One  man  can 
there  make  an  imprefli on  on  the  field  of  another,  only  by 
the  ravages  which  lie  commits  :  But  the  European,  who 
fees  his  harveft  grow  yellow,  and  his  grapes  blacken  all 
at  once,  haftens  to  furamon  to  his  afliftance,  in  reaping 
his  crop,  not  only  his  neighbours,  but  the  traveller  who 
happens  to  be  pafTmg  that  way.  Befides,  Nature,  while 
fhe  has  refufed  to  the  corn  plant  and  the  vine  the  power 
of  yielding  their  fruits  at  all  feafons  of  the  year,  has-  be- 
llowed on  the  flour  of  the  one,  and  the  wine  of  the  other, 
the  quality  of  being  prefervable  for  ages. 

All  the  Laws  of  Nature  have  a  refpeft  to  our  neceffi- 
ties  ;  not  only  thofe  which  are  evidently  contrived  to 
miniftcr  to  our  comfort  ;  but  others  frequently  concur  to 
this  end  fo  much  the  better,  the  more  that  they  feem  to 
deviate  from  it. 


OF  CONTRASTS. 


Contralts  differ  from  contraries  in  this,  that  contra- 
ries a6];  but  in  one  fingle  point,  and  contrafts  in  their  gen- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  67 

€ral  combination.  An  obje6l  has  but  one  contrary,  but 
it  may  have  many  contrafts.  White  is  the  contrary  of 
black;  but  it-contrafts  with- blue,  green,  red,  and  various 
other  colours. 

Nature,  in  order  to  diftinguifli  the  harmonies,  the  con- 
fonances,  and  the  progreflions  of  bodies,  from  each  other, 
makes  them  exhibit  contrails.  This  Law  is  fo  much  the 
^efs  obferved,  the  more  common  it  is.  We  trample  under 
foot  truths  the  molt  wonderful,  and  of  the  higheft  impor- 
tance, without  paying  the   flighteft  attention  to  them. 

All  Naturalifts  confider  the  colours  of  bodies  as'fim- 
ple  accidents  ;  and  moft  of  them  look  on  their  very 
forms  as  the  effeft  of  fome  attraftion,  incubation,  cryftal- 
lization,  &c.  Books  are  every  day  compofed,  the  object 
of  which  is  to  extend,  by  analogies,  the  mechanical  cfFefts 
of  thofe  Laws  to  the  different  produftions  of  Nature  ;  but 
if  they  really  poffefs  fo  much  power,  How  comes  it  that 
the  Sun,  that  univerfal  agent,  has  not  long  ere  now  filled 
the  waters,  the  dry  land,  the  forefts,  the  heavens,  the  plains, 
and  all  the  creatures  over  which  he  exercifes  fo  much  in- 
fluence, with  the  uniform  and  monotonous  effefts  of  his 
light  ?  All  thefe  objefls  ought  to  affume  his  appearance, 
and  prefent  only  white  or  yellow  to  our  eyes,  and  be  dif- 
tinguifhed  from  each  other  only  by  their  fhades.  A  land- 
fcape  ought  to  exhibit  to  us  no  other  effects  but  thofe  of 
a  cameo,  or  of  a  print.  Latitudes,  we  are  told,  diverfify 
the  colour  of  them.  But  if  Latitudes  have  this  power, 
How  comes  it  to  pafs,  that  the  produ61:ions  of  the  fame 
climate,  and  of  the  fame  field,  have  not  all  the  fame  tints  ? 
Whence  is  it  that  the  quadrupeds,  which  are  born  and 
die  in  the  meadow,  do  not  produce  young  ones  green  as 
the  grafs  on  which  they  feed  ? 

Nature  has  not  fatisfied  herfelf  with  eftablifhing  partic- 
ular harmonies  in  every  fpecies  of  beings,  in  order  to  char- 
acterize them  ;  but  that  they  might  not  be  confounded  a- 
mong  themfelves,  flie  exhibits  them  in  contrafts.  Vv'e 
(liall  fee,  in  the  following  Study,  for  what  particular  rea- 


M  A  VINDICATION  Of 

fon  fhe  has  bellowed  upon  herbs  a  green  hue,  in  preler- 
cnce  to  every  other  colour.  In  general  fhe  has  made 
herbs  green,  to  detach  them  from  the  earth ;  an4  then  fhe 
has  given  the  colour  of  the  earth  to  animals  which  live  on 
herbage,  to  diftinguifli  them,  in  their  turn,  from  the 
ground  over  which  they  flray.  This  general  contrail 
may  be  remarked  in  the  herbivorous  quadrupeds,  fuch  as 
the  domeftic  animals,  the  yellow  beafts  of  the  forefts  and 
in  all  the  granivorous  birds,  which  live  among  herbage, 
or  in  the  foliage  of  trees,  as  the  hen,  the  partridge,  the 
quail,  the  lark,  the  fparrow,  and  many  others,  which  are 
of  earthy  colours,  becaufe  they  live  among  verdure.  But 
thofe,  on  the  contrary,  who  live  on  dingy  grounds  are  clad 
in  brilliant  colours,  as  the  bluifh  tomtit,  and  the  wood- 
pecker, which  fcramble  along  the  rind  of  trees  in  purfuit 
of  infe6ls,  and  many  others. 

Nature  univerfally  oppofes  the  colour  of  the  animal  ta 
that  of  the  ground  on  which  it  is  deftined  to  live.  Thi^ 
mofl  admirable  Law  admits  not  of  a  fingle  exception.  I 
fhall  here  produce  a  few  examples  of  it,  to  put  my  Readet^ 
in  the  way  of  obferving  thofe  delightful  harmonies,  of 
which  he  will  find  abundant  proofs  in  every  climate. 
There  is  feen,  on  the  Ihores  of  India,  a  large  and  beauti- 
ful bird,  white  and  fire  coloured,  called  the  JlamingOy  not 
that  it  is  of  FlemiJJi  extra6lion,  but  the  name  is  derived 
from  the  old  French  word  Jlamhant^  (flaming)  becaufe  it 
appears,  at  a  diftance,  like  a  flame  of  fire.  He  generally 
inhabits  in  fwampy  grounds,  and  fait  marfhes,  in  the  wa- 
ters of  which  he  conllru6ls  his  neft,  by  raifing  out  of  the 
moifture,  of  a  foot  deep,  a  little  hillock  of  mud  a  foot 
and  a  half  high.  He  makes  a  hole  in  the  fummit  of  this 
little  hillock  ;  in  this  the  hen  depofits  two  eggs,  and 
hatches  them,  with  her  feet  funk  in  the  water,  by  means 
of  the  extreme  length  of  her  legs.  When  feveral  of  thcfe 
birds  are  fitting  at  the  fame  time  on  their  eggs,  in  the 
snidft  of  a  fwamp,  you  would  take  them,  at  a  difl:ance,  far 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  ^^ 

this  iflames  of  a  conflagration,  burfting  from  the  bQloim  ©f 
lihe  waters. 

Other  fowls  prefent  contrails  of  a  different  kirnl  on  the 
fame  fhores.  The  pelican,  or  wide  throat,  is  a  bird  white 
and  brown, ,  provided  with  a  large  bag  under  its  beak, 
f^vhich  is  of  exce(Eve  length.  0,ut  ^^e  goes  every  morn- 
ing to  ftore  his  bag  v*rith  fifh  :  And,  the  fupply  of  tli€  day 
jiaving  been  accompliflied,  lie  perches  on  fome  pointed 
f oek,  on  a  level  with  the  water,  where  he  ftands  imn^ove- 
^ble  till  the  evening,  fays  Father  Du  Tertre^*  *'  as  in  a 
*'  flate  of  profound  forrow,  with  the  head  drooping,  from 
^*  the  weight  of  his  Ipng  bill,  and  eyes  fixed  on  the. agi- 
•*  tated  Ocean,  as  motionlefsas  a  ftatue  of  marble."  On 
the  dufky  flrand  of  thofe  feas  may  frequently  be  diflin^ 
guilhed  herons  whitp  as  fnow,  and  in  the  azure  plains  of 
the  fky,  the  paillencu  of  a  filvery  white,  fkimniing  through 
it  alraoft  out  of  fight  :  He  is  fometimes  glazed  over  with 
a  h-right  red,  having  li-kewife  the  two  long  feathers  of  his 
tail  the  colour  of  fire,  as  that  of  the  South  Seas. 

In  many  cafes,  the  deeper  that  the  ground  is,  the  more 
brilliant  are  the  c-olours  in  which  the  animal,  defdned  to 
live  upon  it,  is  arrayed.  We  have  not,  perhaps,  in  Europe 
any  infe6l  with  richer  and  gayer  clothing  than  the  fterco- 
raceous  fcarab,  and  th|Q  fly  which  bears  the  fame  epithet. 
This  laft  is  brighter  than  burnifhed  gold  and  ^q.^\-:^  the 
other  of  a  hemifpherical  form,  is  of  a  fine  blue,  incliniiio^ 
to  purple  :  And  in  order  to  render  the  contrafl  complete, 
he  exhales  a  ffrong  and  agreeable  odour  of  mufk. 

Nature  feems,  fometimes,  to  deviate  from  this  Law,  but 
then  it  is  from  other  realons  of  conformity,  according-  to 
which  all  her  plans-are  adjufted.  Thus,  after  having  con- 
trafled,  with  the  ground  on  which  they  live,  the  animals 
capable  of  making  their  efcdpe  from  every  danger  by  their 
llrength,  or  their  agility,  fhe  has  confounded  thofe  whofe 
flpwncfs,  or  weaknefs,  wovtld  expofc  them  to  the  aiTaiilt5^ 

*  JIifi.9rv  of  {he  Anbi]ts< 


7d  •  A  VINDICATION  of 

of  their  enemies.  The  fnail,  which  is  deftitute  of  fight,  is 
of  the  colour  of  the  bark  of  the  trees  which  he  gnaws,  or 
of  the  wall  in  which  he  takes  refuge. 

Flat  fifhes  which  are  indifferent  fwimmers,  fuch  as  the 
turbot,  the  flounder,  the  plaice,  the  hurt,  the  fole,  and  fev- 
eral  others,  which  are  cut  out,  as  it  were,  from  a  thin 
plank,  becaufe  they  were  deftined  to  a  fedentary  life,  clofe 
to  the  bottom  of  the  Sea,  are  of  the  ,colour  of  the  fands 
where  they  find  their  nourifhment,  being  fpbtted,  like  the 
beach,  with  gray,  yellow,  black,  red  and  brown.  They 
are  thus  fpeckled,  I  admit,  only  on  one  fide  ;  but  to  fuch 
a  degree  are  they  poflelTed  of  the  feeling  of  this  refeni- 
blance,  that  when  they  find  themfelves  inclofed  within  the 
parks  formed  on  the  ilrand  to  entrap  them.,  and  obferving 
the  tide  gradually  retiring,  they  bury  their  fins  in  the  fand, 
expe6ling  the  return  of  the  tide,  and  prefent  lo  the  eye  on- 
ly their  deceitful  fide.  It  has  fuch  a  perfe£f  refemblance 
to  the  ground  on  which  they  fquat,  to  conceal  themfelves, 
that  it  would  be  impoflfible  for  the  fifhermen  todiftinguifli 
them  from  it,  without  the  help  of  fickles,  with  which  they 
trace  fmali  fofFes,  in  every  direftion,  along  the  furface  of 
the  fand,  to  dete61:  by  the  touch  what  the  eye  could  not 
difcern.  Of  this  1  have  been  a  witnefs  oftener  than  once, 
much  more  highly  amufed  at  the  dexterity  difplayed  by 
the  fifiies,  than  at  that  of  the  fifliermen. 

The  thornback,  on  the  contrary,  which  is  alfo  a  flat 
fifh,  and  a  bad  fwimmer,  but  carnivorous,  is  marbled  with 
white  and  brown,  in  order  to  be  perceived  at  a  difl;ance 
by  other  fiflies  ^  and  to  prevent  their  being  devoured,  in 
their  turn,  bv  their  enemies,  which  are  very  alert,  fuch  as 
the  fea  doo-,  or  by  their  own  companions,  for  they  are  ex- 
tremely voracious.  Nature  has  clad  them  in  a  prickly 
•  mail,  particularly  on  the  pofterior  part  of  the  body,  as  the 
tail,  which  is  moll  expofed  to  attack  when  they  fly. 

Nature  has  bellowed  at  once,  in  the  colours  ot  innox- 
ious animals,  contrafts  with  the  ground  on  which  they 
live,  and  confonances  with  that  which  is  adjacent,  and  has. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  jk 

fuperadded  the  inftinfl:  of  employing  thefe  alternately,  ac- 
cording as  good  or  bad  foftune  prompts.  Thefe  wonder- 
ful accommodations  may  be  remarked  in  moft  of  our 
fmali  birds,  whofe  flight  is  feeble,  and  of  (hort  duration. 
Tht  gray  lark  finds  her  fubfiftence  among  the  grafs  of 
the  plains  ?  Does  any  thing  terrify  her  ?  She  glides  away, 
and  takes  her  flation  between  two  little  clods  of  earth, 
where  fhe  becomes  invifible.  On  this  pofl  fhe  remains 
in  fuch  perfeft  tranquillity,  as  hardly  to  quit  it  when  the 
foot  of  the  fowler  is  ready  to  crufh  her. 

The  fame  thing  is  true  of  the  partridge.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  thefe  defencelefs  birds  have  a  fenfe  of  thofe 
contrails  and  correfpondencies  of  colour,  for  I  have  re- 
marked it  even  in  infers.  In  the  month  of  March  laft, 
I  obferved,  by  the  brink  of  the  rivulet  which  wafhes  the 
Gobelins,*  a  butterfly  of  the  colour  of  brick,  repofmg 
with  expanded  wings  on  a  tuft  of  grafs.  On  my  ap- 
proaching him,  he  flew  off.  He  alighted,  at  fome  paces 
diflance,  on  the  ground,  which,  at  that  place,  was  of  the 
fame  colour  with  himfelf.  I  approached  him  a  fecond 
time  ;  he  took  a  fecond  flight,  and  perched  again  on  a 
fimilar  ftripe  of  earth.  In  a  word,  I  found  it  was  not  in 
my  power  to  oblige  him  to  alight  on  the  grafs,  though  1 
made  frequent  attempts  to  that  eETeft,  and  though  the 
fpaces  of  earth  which  feparated  the  turfy  foil  were  narrow, 
and  few  in  number. 

This  wonderful  inftinft  is,  likewife,  confpicuoufly  ev- 
ident in  the  cameleon.  This  fpecies  of  lizard,  whofc 
motion  is  extremely  flow,  is  indemnified  for  this,  by  the 
incomprehenfible  faculty  of  affuming,  at  pleafure,  the  col- 
our of  the  ground  over  which  he  moves.  With  this  ad- 
vantage, he  is  enabled  to  elude  the  eye  of  his  purfuer, 
whofe  fpeed  would  foon  have  overtaken  him.  This  fac- 
ulty is  in  his  will,  for  his  fkin  is  by  no  means  a  mirror. 

*  A  fmall  village  in  the  fuburbs  of  Paris,  noted  for   its  manufaftures  in 
fine  tapeftryj  and  fuperb  wirrois.  H.     H. 


5*  A  VINDIGATION  OF 

It  refleQs  only  the  colour  of  obje6ls,  and  not  their  iorrhi 
Wliatis  farther  fingularly  remarkable  in  this,  and  perfe6^- 
]y  afcertained  by  Naturalifts,  though  they  aflign  no  rea* 
fonfbr  it,  he  can  afTume  all  colours^  as  brown,  gray,  yeli- 
low,  and  efpecially  green,  which  is-  his  favourite  colour, 
but'  never  red.  The  cameleon  has  been  placed,  for  weeks* 
together,  amidft  fcarlet  ftuffs,  without  acquiring  the  fl!ght- 
efl-  (hade  of  that  colour.  Nature  feems  to  have  withheld' 
from  the  creature  this  Ihining  hue,  becaufe  it  could  ferve' 
only  to  render  him  perceptible  at  a  greater  diftance  ;  and, 
farther,  becaufe  this  colour  is  that  of  the  ground  of  no 
fpecies  of  earth,  or  of  vegetable,  on  which  he  is  defigned' 
to  pafs  his  life. 

But,  in  the  age  of  weaknefs  and  inexperience,  Nature' 
confounds  the  colour  of  the  harmlefs  animals,  with  that 
of  the  ground  on  which  they  inhabit,  without  commit- 
ting to  them  the  power  of  choice.  The  young  of  pig- 
eoiTS,  and  of  moft  granivorous  fowls,  are  clothed  with  a- 
greenilh  ftaggy  coat,  refembling  the  mofles  of  their  nefts. 
Caterpillars  are  blind,  and  have  the.  complexion  of  the 
foliage,  and  of  the  barks,  which  they  devour.  Nay,  the: 
young  fruits,  before  they  come  to  be  armed  with  prickles, 
or  inclofed  in  cafes,  in  bitter  pulps,  in  hard  fhells,  to  pro- 
teft'their  feeds,  are,  during  the  feafbn'  of  their  expanfron; 
gicen  as  the  leaves  which  fiirround'  them.  Some  embryo 
ons,  it  is  true,  fuch  as  thofe  of  certain  pears,  are  ruddy  or 
b-rown  ;  but  they  are  then  of  the  colour  of  the  bark  of 
the  tree  to  which  they  belong.  When  thofe  fruits  have 
inclofed  their  feeds  in  kernels  ornuts^  fb  as  to  be  irt  no 
farther  danger,  they  then  change  colour.  They  bectniie;- 
vellow,  blue,  gold  coloured,  red,  black,  and  give  to  theii* 
jefpeftive  trees  their  natural  contrails.  It  is  ftrikingly 
remarkable,  that  every  fruit  which  has  changed  colour 
has  feed  in  a  flateof  maturity. 

The  infects,  in  like  manner,  having  depofited  their 
robes  of  infancy,  and  now  committed  to  their  own  expe- 
rience, fprcad  abroad  over  the  World,   to  multiply  the^ 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  ^g 

Wrmonies  of  it,  with  the  attire  and  the  inftlnfts  which 
Nature  has  conferred  upon  them.  Then  it  is  that  clouds 
of  butterflies,  which,  in  their  caterpillar  ftate,  were  con- 
founded with  the  verdure  of  plants,  now  oppofe  the  col- 
ours and  the  forms  of  their  wings,  to  thofe  of  the  flowers  ; 
the  red  to  the  blue,  the  white  to  the  red,  the  aniennce  to 
the  Jiamina^  and  fringes  to  the  corolla,  I  was  one  day 
ftruck  with  admiration  at  one  of  thefe,  whofe  wings  were 
azure,  and  befprinkled  with  fpecks  of  the  colour  of  Auro- 
ra, as  he  repofed  in  the  bofom  of  a  full  blown  rofe.  He 
feemed  to  be  difputing  beauty  with  the  flower.  It  would 
have  been  difficult  to  determine  which  way  to  adjudge  the 
prize,  in  favour  of  the  butterfly  or  of  the  rofe  ;  but,  on 
feeing  the  flower  crowned  with  wings  of  lapis  lazuli,  and 
the  azure  infeft  depofited  in  a  goblet  of  carmine,  it  was 
obvious,  on  the  fllghtefl:  glance,  that  their  charming  con- 
trail greatly  enhanced  their  mutual  beauty* 

Nature  does  not  employ  thofe  agreeable  correfponden- 
cies  and  contrafl:s  in  the  decoration  of  noxious  animals, 
nor  even  of  dangerous  vegetables.  Of  whatever  kind  the 
carnivorous,  or  venemous  animals,  may  be,  they  form,  at 
every  age,  and  wherever  they  are,  oppofitions  harffi  and 
dirgufl:ing.  The  white  bear  of  the  North  announces  his 
approach  over  the  fnow,  by  a  hollow  noife,  by  the  black- 
nefs  of  his  fnout  and  paws,  and  by  a  throat  and  eyes  the 
colour  of  blood.  The  ferocious  beafts,  which  hunt  for 
their  prey  in  the  gloom  of  darknefs,  or  in  the  folitude  of 
the  forefts,  give  notice  of  their  prefence  by  loud  roarings, 
lamentable  cries,  eyes  inflamed,  urinous  or  fetid  fmells. 
The  crocodile,  in  ambuih  among  the  flags,  upon  the  fliores 
of  the  rivers  in  Afia,  where  he  affumes  the  appearance  of 
the  trunk  of  a  tree  turned  upfide  down,  betrays  himfelf 
from  afar,  by  fl:rong  exhalations  of  the  fmell  of  muflc. 
The  rattlefnake,  concealed  in  the  grafly  fwamps  of  Amer- 
ica, cannot  ftir  without  founding  his  ominous  alarm.  The 
very  infefts  which  make  war  on  others,  are  clad  in  fable 
attire,  in  which  colours  are  karflily  oppofed,  and  in  whirls 

VOL.     II.  K 


^4  A  VINDfCATION  ot 

black,  particularly,  predominates,  and  clafhes  difagreeabJ^r 
with  white,  or  yellow.  The  bumblebee,  independently 
of  his  buzzing  noife,  announces  himfelf  by  the  blacknefs 
oi  his  breaftplate,  and  his  large  belly  briftled  over  with 
yellow  hairs.  He  appears  amidft  the  flowers,  like  a  burn- 
ing coal  half  extinguifhed.  The  carnivorous  wafp  is  yel- 
low, and  ftriped  with  black,  like  the  tiger.  But  the  ufe- 
ful  bee  is  of  the  complexion  of  the  flamina  and  of  the 
calices  of  the  flowers,  among  which  fhe  reaps  her  inno- 
cent harvefts. 

Poifonous  plants  prefent,  like  noxious  animals,  dif- 
gufting  contrafts,  from  the  livid  colours  of  their  flowers, 
in  which  black,  deep  blue,  and  a  fmoky  violet,  are  in  harfli 
oppofition  with  the  tender  fliades;  from  their  naufeous  and 
virulent  fmells  ;  from  their  prickly  foliage,  of  a  black 
green  hue,  and  clafliing  with  white  on  the  under  fide  : 
Such  are  the  aconite  tribes.  I  am  acquainted  with  no 
plant  of  an  afpeft  fo  hideous  as  thofe  of  this  family,  and, 
among  others,  that  which  the  French  denominate  napel 
the  mofl;  venemous  vegetable  of  our  climates.  I  fliall  not 
take  upon  me  to  determine,  whether  the  embryons  of  their 
fruits  do  not  difclofe,  from  the  very  firft  moments  of  their 
expanfion,  harfli  oppofitions,  which  give  warning  of  their 
malefic  charafters  :  If  it  be  fo,  they  have  this  farther  re- 
femblance  in  common  to  them  with  the  young  of  ferocious 
animals. 

Such  of  the  brute  creation  as  are  intended  to  live  on 
two  different  grounds,  are  imprefled  with  a  double  con- 
trafl:  in  their  colours.  Thus,  for  example,  the  kingfiflier, 
which  flcims  along  rivers,  is  at  once  muflc  coloured,  and 
glazed  over  with  azure ;  fo  as  to  be  detached  from  the 
duflcy  fliores  by  his  azure  colour,  and  from  the  azure  of 
the  waters  by  his  muflc  colour.  The  duck,  which  dabbles 
on  the  fame  fliores,  has  the  body  tinged  of  an  afli  colour, 
while  the  head  and  neck  are  of  an  emerald  green  ;  fo  that 
he  is  perfeftly  diftinguifliablc,  by  the  gray  colour  of  his 
body,  from  the  verdure  of  the  aquatic  plants  among  which 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  75 

fee  waddles,  and  by  the  verdure  of  his  head  and  neck, 
from  the  dark  coloured  mud  where  he  finds  part  of  his 
food,  and  in  which,  by  another  moll  aftonilhing  contrail, 
he  never  foils  his  plumage. 

The  fame  contrails  of  colour  are  obfervable  in  the 
woodpecker,  who  lives  on  the  trunks  of  trees,  along  which 
he  fcrambles  in  quell  of  the  infe£ls  that  are  lodged  under 
their  rind.  This  bird  is  at  once  green  coloured  and 
brown  ;  fo  that,  though  he  lives,  properly  fpeaking,  in 
the  fhade,  he  is  always  perceptible,  however,  on  the  trunk 
of  trees  ;  for  he  detaches  himfelf  from  their  dulky  rind, 
by  means  of  that  part  of  his  plumage  which  is  of  a  bril- 
liant green,  and  from  the  verdure  of  their  molTes  and  li- 
chens, by  thofe  of  his  feathers,  which  are  brown. 

Nature  oppofes,  then,  the  colours  of  every  animal  to 
thofe  of  the  refpe6live  ground  on  which  it  is  to  be  placed  ; 
and  what  confirms  the  truth  of  this  Law  is,  that  the  great- 
eft  part  of  birds  which  live  on  one  ground  only,  have  but 
a  fingle  colour,  and  that  one  ftrongly  contrafted  with  the 
colour  of  the  ground.  Accordingly,  the  birds  which 
live  aloft  in  the  air,  on  the  azury  ground  of  the  Heavens, 
or  on  the  bofom  of  the  waters,  in  the  midft  of  lakes,  are 
moftly  white,  which,  of  all  colours,  forms  the  moll  ftrik- 
ing  contraft  with  blue,  and  is,  confequently,  moft  adapted 
to  render  them  perceptible  at  a  diftance.  Such  are,  be- 
tween the  Tropics,  the  paillencu,  a  bird  of  a  glofly  white, 
whofe  flight  is  through  the  fuperior  regions  of  the  air, 
the  heron,  the  gull,' the  feamew,  which  Ikim  along  the 
furface  of  the  azure  deep,  and  the  fwan,  fleets  of  which 
navigate  the  extenfive  lakes  of  the  North. 

There  are  likewife  others  which,  in  order  to  form  a 
contraft  with  thofe  that  1  have  laft  mentioned,  detach 
themfelves  from  the  Ikies  and  from  the  waters,  by  their 
black,  or  dulky  colours  :  Such  are,  for  example,  the  crow, 
in  our  own  climates,  which  is  perceptible  at  fo  great  a  dif- 
tance in  the  Heavens,  on  the  white  ground  of  the  clouds  ; 
liiany  fea  fowls  of  ^  brown  ^d  blackifti  colour,  as  the  tri- 


^e  A  VINDICATION  OF 

gat  of  the  Tropics,  which  plays  through  the  air,  amictll 
ftorm  and  temped ;  the  mower,  or  feacutter,  a  water  bird, 
which  grazes  with  his  dark  coloured  wings,  fliaped  like  a. 
fey  the,  the  white  furface  of  the  foamy  billows  of  the  Ocean- 
From  thefe  examples,  therefore,  it  maybe  inferred,  that 
when  an  animal  is  invefled  with  but  one  fmgle  tint,  he  is 
intended  but  for  one  fituation  ;  and  when  he  combines  in 
himfelf  the  contrail  of  two  oppofite  tints,  that  he  lives  on 
two  grounds,  the  colours  themfelves  of  which  are  deter- 
mined by  that  of  the  plumage,  or  of  the  hair,  of  the  ani- 
mal. We  muff  be  upon  our  guard,  at  the  fame  time,  a- 
gainft  an  unlimited  generalization  of  this  Law.  We 
ought  to  confider  it  as  harmonizing  with  the  exceptions 
which  wife  Nature  has  introduced  and  eftablifhed,  for  the 
very  prefervation  of  animals  ;  fuch  as,  in  general,  the 
whitening  of  them,  to  the  North,  in  the  Winter  feafon, 
and  on  lofty  mountains,  as  a  remedy  againft  excefs  of 
cold,  by  arraying  them  in  a  colour  which  reflefts  the  moft 
heat  ;  and  embrowning  them  to  the  South,  during  the  ar- 
dors of  Summer,  and  on  fandy  diftri6ls,and  thereby  fhelter- 
ing  them  from  the  effefts  of  burning  heat,  by  the  interven- 
tion of  abforbent  colours.  What  evidently  demonftrates, 
that  thefe  great  effefts  of  harmony  are  not  mechanical 
refults  oi  the  influence  of  the  bodies  which  furround  ani- 
mals, or  of  the  apprehenfions  of  the  mother  on  the  tender 
organs  of  the  foetus,  or  of  the  aftion  of  the  rays  of  the  Sun 
on  their  plumage,  according  to  the  explications  hitherto 
attempted  by  our  fyflcms  of  phyfics  ;  what  evidently  de- 
monftrates this,  I  fay,  is,  that  among  the  almoft  infinite 
nuir.ber  of  birds  which  pafs  their  life  in  the  higher  region}* 
of  the  air,  or  on  the  furface  of  the  Seas,  whofe  colours  are 
azure,  there  is  not  a  fingle  bird  of  the  colour  of  blue  ; 
and  that,  on  the  contrary,  many  birds  which  live  between 
the  Tropics,  in  the  bofom  of  black  rocks,  or  under  the 
ihade  of  fullen  forefts,  are  azure  coloured  :  Such  are  the 
Batavia  hen,  which  is  blue  all  over  ;  the  Dutch  pigeon 
ef  the  Ifle  of  France,  and  many  others. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  jf 

Another  confequence,  equally  important,  may  be  <le^ 
duced  from  thefe  obfervations  ;  it  is  this,  that  all  thefe 
harmonies  are  contrived  for  the  ufe  of  Man.  A  blue  col- 
oured fowl,  on  the  azure  ground  of  the  fky,  or  on 
the  furface  of  the  waters,  would  elude  our  fight.  Na- 
ture, befides,  has  referved  the  rich  and  agreeable  col- 
ours only  for  the  birds  which  live  in  our  vicinity.  This 
is  fo  indubitably  certain,  that  though  the  Sun  afts  be- 
tween the  Tropics  with  the  whole  energy  of  his  rays, 
on  the  fowls  whofe  refidence  is  the  wide  Ocean,  there  is 
not  a  fmgle  one  of  them  arrayed  in  a  beautifully  coloured 
plumage,  whereas  thofe  which  inhabit  the  Ihores  «f  the 
Seas,  and  of  the  rivers,  are  frequently  drelFed  in  the  moil 
gorgeous  attire.  The  flamingo,  a  tall  bird,  which  lives  in 
the  fwampy  fhores  of  the  South  Seas,  has  a  white  plum- 
age charged  with  carmine.  The  toucan,  on  the  fame 
ftrands,  has  an  enormous  bill  of  the  moft  lively  red  ;  and 
when  he  retires  from  thcbofom  of  the  humid  fands,  where 
he  finds  his  food,  you  would  be  tempted  to  fay,  that  he 
has  juft  fifhed  out  of  them  a  flump  of  coral.  There  is 
another  fpecies  of  toucan,  whofe  beak  is  white  and  black, 
as  finely  polifhed  as  if  it  confifled  of  ebon  and  ivory. 
The  pintada,  with  fpeckled  plumage,  the  peacock,  the 
duck,  the  kingfifher,  and  a  multitude  of  other  river  birds, 
embellifh,  by  the  enamel  of  their  colours,  the  banks  of  the 
Afiatic  and  African  flreams.  But  we  find  nothing  once 
to  be  compared  with  them,  in  the  plumage  of  fuch  as  in- 
habit the  open  Sea,  though  they  are  flill  more  expofed  to 
the  influences  of  the  Sun. 

As  a  farther  confequence  of  thefe  correfpondencies 
with  Man,  Nature  has  given  to  the  birds  which  live  re- 
mote from  him,  cries  fhrill,  hoarfe  and  piercing,  but 
which  are  as  proper  as  their  ill  afforted  colours,  to  render 
them  perceptible  at  a  diftance,  amidft  their  ^v•ild  retreats. 
She  has  beflowed,  on  the  contrary,  fweet  notes  and  melou. 
dipus  voices  on  the  little  birds  which  people  our  groves, 


ft  A  VINDICATION  OF 

and  domeflicate  themfelves  in  our  habitations,  in  order 
to  heighten  our  delight,  as  well  by  the  mufic  of  their 
warbling  as  by  the  beauty  of  their  colours.  We  repeat 
it,  in  order  to  confirm  the  truth  of  the  principles  of  the 
Jiarmonies  which  we  are  laying  down  :  Nature  has  eftab- 
lifhed  an  order  of  beauty  fo  real,  in  the  plumage  and  the 
fong  of  birds,  that  (he  has  endowed  with  thefe  fuch  birds 
only,  whofe  life  was  in  fome  fort  innocent  relatively  to 
Man,  as  thofe  which  are  granivorous,  or  which  live  on 
infe8:s  ;  and  fhe  has  denied  thofe  advantages  to  birds  of 
prey,  and  to  moll  fea  fowls,  which  in  general,  have  earthy 
colours,  and  difagreeable  cries. 

All  the  kingdoms  of  Nature  prefent  themfelves  to  Man 
with  the  fame  correfpondencies,  the  abyfles  of  the  Ocean 
themfelves  not  excepted.  The  fifties  which  live  on  ani- 
mal fubftances,  as  the  whole  clafs  of  the  cartilaginous  do, 
fuch  as  the  feai,  the  fea  dog,  the  fliark,  the  flipper,  the 
thornback,  the  polypus,  and  many  others,  have  difgufting 
forms  and  colours.  Fiflies  which  live  in  the  open  fea, 
have  colours  marbled  with  white,  black,  brown,  which 
diftinguifh  them  in  the  bofom  of  the  azure  billows,  fuch 
^re  whales,  blowers,  porpoifes,  and  others.  But  it  is  a- 
mong  thofe  which  frequent  the  dufky  ftiores,  and  particu- 
larly in  the  number  of  fuch  as  are  denominated  Jaxatile, 
tecaufe  they  live  among  the  rocks,  that  we  find  the  fifties, 
the  luftre  of  whofe  (kin  and  fcales  far  furpafl*es  all  the 
efforts  of  the  pencil,  efpecially  when  they  are  alive.  It 
is  thus  that  legions  of  mackarel  and  herrings  diffufe  the 
radiance  of*  filver  and  azure  over  the  northern  ftrands  of 
Europe. 

It  is  around  the  black  rocks  which  bound  the  Seas  of 
the  Tropics,  that  the  fifti  known  by  the  name  of  captain 
is  caught.  Though  his  colours  vary  with  the  latitude,  it 
i«  fuflf^cient,  in  order  to  convey  an  idea  of  his  beauty,  to 
Retail  the  defcription  given  of  it  by  Francis  Cauche^*  in  a, 

*  Confult  Frauds  Cauche^  hia  relation  of  Madagafcar.. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE,  7^ 

fpecies  caught  on  the  coafts  of  Madagafcar.  He  fays, 
that  this  fifti,  which  takes  pleafure  in  the  locks,  is  ftreak- 
ed  in  the  form  of  lozenges  ;  that  his  fcales  are  of  a  pale 
gold  colour,  and  that  his  back  is  coloured  and  glazed  over 
with  laca,  inclining,  in  feveral  places,  toward  vermilion. 
His  dorfal  fin  and  tail  are  waved  with  azure,  fading  away 
into  green  toward  the  extremities. 

About  the  bottom  of  the  fame  rocks  is  likewife  found 
the  magnificent  fifh  called  the  far  din,  and  by  the  Brafil* 
ians  acara  pinima,  of  which  Marcgrave  has  given  the  fig- 
ure in  his  4th  Book,  Chap.  6.  This  beautiful  fifh  is  a- 
domed  with  fcales  of  at  once  a  gold  and  filver  hue,  crofled 
from  head  to  tail  by  black  lines,  which  admirably  height- 
en their  luftre.  The  fame  Author  defcribes  a  variety  of 
fpecies  of  the  moon  fifh,  befides,  which  frequent  the 
fame  places. 

For  my  own  part,  I  have  amufed  myfelf  on  the  rocks  of 
the  Ifland  of  Afcenfion,  in  obferving,  for  hours  together, 
the  moon  fifh  fporting  amidfl  the  tumultuous  waves,  which 
are  incefTantly  breaking  upon  them.  Thefe  fifhes,  of  which 
there  are  various  fpecies,  have  the  rounded,  and  fome- 
times  floping  form  of  the  orb  of  night,  whofe  name  they 
bear.  They  are,  befides,  like  her,  of  the  colour  of  polifh- 
ed  filver.  They  feem  deftined  to  elude  the  fagacity  of  the 
fifherman,  in  every  poffible  way  ;  for  they  have  their  bel- 
ly ftreaked  with  black  crofs  flripes,  of  a  lozenge  form, 
which  gives  them  all-  the  appearance  of  being  caught  in  a 
net  ;  they  feem,  every  inflant,  on  the  point  of  being  toff- 
ed  on  fhore,  by  the  agitation  of  the  billows  in  which  they 
play  ;  farther,  their  mouth  is  fo  fmall,  that  they  frequent- 
ly nibble  away  the  bait  without  touching  the  hook ;  and 
their  fkin,  without  fcales,  like  that  of  the  feal,  is  fo  hard, 
that  the  harpoon  often  mifTes  its  blow,  be  the  prongs  ever 
fo  keenly  jvhetted.  Francis  C^wcA^  likewife  fays,  that  it 
requires  a  very  violent  exertion  to  make  an  incifion  int« 
their  fkin  with  the  fharpefl  knife. 


to  A  VINDICATION  of 

It  Is  on  the  fame  fliores  of  Afcenfion  Ifland  that  we  fine! 
the  miirena,  a  fpecies  of  lamprey,  or  eel  of  the  rocks,  which 
is  excellent  food,  and  whofe  fkin  is  befprinkled  with  gild- 
ed flowers.  It  may  be  affirmed,  in  general,  that  every 
rock  in  the  fea  is  frequented  by  a  multitude  of  fifhes,  of 
the  moft  brilliant  colours  ;  fuch  as  the  gilt  head,  the  per- 
roquet,  the  zebra,  the  roach,  and  others  without  number, 
the  very  clafles  of  which  are  unknown  to  us.  The  more 
that  the  rocks  and  fliallows  of  any  fea  are  multiplied,  the 
more  varied,  likewife,  are  the  fpecies  of  the  faxatile  fifh- 
es which  refort  thither.  For  this  reafon  it  is,  that  the 
Maldivia  Iflands,  which  are  fo  numerous,  furnifh  them- 
felves  alone  a  prodigious  multitude  of  fifhes,  of  very^dif- 
ferent  colours  and  forms,  with  the  greatefl  part  of  which 
our  Ichthologifls  are  hitherto  totally  unacquainted. 

As  often,  therefore,  as  you  fee  a  brilliant  fifh,  you  may 
be  afTured  that  his  habitation  is  near  the  lliore,  and  that, 
on  the  contrary,  he  lives  in  the  open  Ocean,  if  he  is  of  a 
dark  colour.  The  truth  of  this  may  be  afcertained  by 
ourfelves,  in  the  channels,  and  on  the  banks  of  our  own 
rivers.  The  filver  fmelt,  and  the  blay,  whofe  fcales  are 
employed  in  the  formation  of  mock  pearls,  play  on  the 
flrand  of  the  Seine  ;  whereas  the  eel,  of  the  gloomy  coU 
our  of  flate,  takes  pleafure  to  dabble  in  the  midfl,  and  at 
the  bottom  of  the  flream.  We  muft  not,  however,  pre- 
tend to  generalize  thefe  Laws,  to  the  exclufion  of  all  ex- 
ceptions. Nature,  as  has  been  faid,  fubjefts  all  to  the 
mutual  adaptation  of  beings,  and  to  the  enjoyment  of 
Man.  Thus,  for  example,  though  the  fifhes  on  the  fhores 
have,  in  general,  fhining  colours,  there  are,  however,  fev- 
eral  fpecies  of  them  invariably  of  a  dark  colour.  Such 
arc,  not  only  thofe  which  fwim  indifferently,  as  foles,  tur- 
bots,  &c.  but  thofe  alfo  which  inhabit  fome  parts  of  the 
fliores  whofe  colours  are  lively.  Thus  the  tortoife,  which 
paflures  at  the  bottom  of  the  fea,  on  green  herbs,  or  which 
crawls  by  night  over  the  white  fands,  there  to  dcpofit  her 
^gg^^  is  of  a  fliadv  colour  ;  tlius  the  lamentine,  which  en- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  gl 

Vers  into  the  channel  of  the  rivers  of  America,  in  queft  of 
food,  in  the  verdure  of  their  banks,  without  leaving  the 
water,  detaches  himfelf  frotn  that  verdure,  by  the  brown 
colour  of  his  fkin. 

The  faxatile  filhes,  which  cart  eafily  infure  their  fafety 
among  the  rocks,  by  agility  in  fwimming.  Or  by  the  fa- 
cility of  finding  a  retreat  in  their  cavernous  receptacles, 
or  of  there  defending  themfelves  againft  their  enemies,  by 
the  armour  which  Nature  has  bellowed,  have  all  of  them 
lively  and  fhining  colours,  the  cartilaginous  excepted: 
Such  are  the  blood  coloured  crabs,  the  azure  and  purple 
iobfters,  called  langoujle  and  homdrd^  and,  among  others, 
that  to  which  RondeUt  has  given  the  name  of  Thetis,  on 
account  of  its  beauty,  the  violet  coloured  urchins,  armed 
with  points  and  fpears,  the  nerits,  inclofed  in  a  fpiral 
cafe,  with  rofe  and  gray  coloured  ribbons  winding  round 
it,  and  an  endlefs  variety  of  others. 

It  is  very  remarkable  that  all  fhell  fifh  which  walk  and 
migrate,  and,  confequently,  have  the  power  of  choofing 
their  afylum,  are  thofe,  in  their  kind,  which  have  the  rich- 
eft  colours  :  Such  are  the  nerits  which  I  have  juft  men- 
tioned, the  purple  fifh,  or  Venus  fhell,  refembling  polifhed 
marble,  the  olives,  fhaded  like  velvet  of  three  or  four  col- 
ours, the  harp,  embellifhed  with  the  tints  of  the  moft 
beautiful  tulips,  the  tunny,  fpeckled  like  the  partridge's 
wing,  which  walks  along  under  the  fliade  ot  the  madre- 
pores ;  and  all  the  families  ot  the  univalves,  which  force 
their  way  into  the  fand  for  flielter,  the  bivalves,  as  the  du- 
cal cloak,  fcarlet  coloured  and  orange,  and  a  multitude 
of  other  migrating  fhell  fifh,  are  imprefTed  with  colours 
the  moft  lively,  and  form,  with  the  different  grounds  ot 
the  Sea,  fecondary  harmonies  totally  unknown. 

But  thofe  which  do  not  change  their  fituation,  as  moft 
of  the  oyfters  of  the  feas  to  the  fouthward,  which  fre- 
quently adhere  to  the  rocks,  or  thofe  which  are  perpetu- 
ally at  anchor  in  ftraits^  as  mufcles  and  the  pinnamarina, 
attached  to  pebbles  by  threads,  or  thofe  which  reft  on  the 
VOL.  II.  L 


ii  A  VINDICATION  Of 

bofom  of  the  madrepores,  like  veffels  on  the  flocks^  zTj 
the  Noah's  ark,  or  tliofe  which  are  entirely  buried  in  the 
heart  of  calcareous  rocks,  as  the  dail  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean, or  fuch  as  are  immoveable,  from  their  weight,  which 
fomctimes  exceeds  that  of  feveral  quintals,  and  pave  the 
furface  of  flats,  as  the  thuilec  of  the  Moluccas,  and  the 
large  bivalves,  as  the  rocks,  the  burgos,  &:c.  or  thofe,  in 
a  word,  which,  1  believe,  are  blind,  like  our  land  fnails, 
fuch  as  lempits,  which  fallen  themfelves,  by  the  forma- 
tion of  a  vacuum,  on  the  Ihining  furface  of  the  rocks,  are 
of  the  colour  of  the  ground  which  they  inhabit,  in  order 
to  be  Icfs  perceptible  to  their  enemies. 

It  is,  farther,  very  highly  worthy  of  obfervation,  that 
though  many  of  thofe  fedentary  ihell  filh  are  clothed  in  a 
brown  and  fliaggy  outward  garment,  as  thofe  which  are 
called  cornets  and  rollers;  or  with  a  black  pellicle  of  the 
(hade  of  the  pebbles  to  which  they  arc  attached,  as  the 
Magellan  mufclcs  ;  or  encompafTcd  with  a  mud  colour- 
ed tartar,  as  the  lempit  and  the  burgo  :  They  have,  un- 
der their  gloomy  upper  coats,  pearly  appearances,  and 
tints,  the  beauty  of  which  frequently  exceed  thofe  of  the 
fliell  fifh  whofe  apparent  colours  are  the  mofl  brilliant. 
Thus  the  Magellan  lempit,  cleanfed  of  its  tartar  by  means 
of  vinegar,  prefents  the  richeft  of  cups,  fhaded  with  the 
colours  of  the  fineft  tortoife  (bell,  and  blended  with  a 
burnilhed  gold,  which  is  perceptible  through  a  chefnut 
coloured  varnilh.  The  large  mufcle  of  Magellan's  ilrait 
conceals,  in  like  manner,  under  its  black  coat,  the  oriental 
Ihadcs  of  the  aurora. 

It  is  impofhble  to  afcribe,  as  in  the  (liell  fifli  of  India, 
colours  fo  charming,  to  the  aftion  of  the  Sun  on  thefe 
ftiells,  covered  as  they  are  with  tartars  and  rough  coats, 
and  which  are  the  clothing  of  fifh  that  live,  befidc,  in  a 
foggy  climate,  abandoned  for  a  great  part  of  the  year  to 
gloomy  Winters  and  long  tempefts.  We  may  venture  to 
affirm,  that  Nature  has  veiled  their  beauty,  only  to  pre- 
ferve  it  for  the  enjoyment  of  Man,  and  has  placed  them 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  S3 

^nly  on  the  verge  of  the  flioies,  where  the  Sea  purifies 
tliem,  by  to/Ting  them  about,  to  put  thcin  within  his  reach. 
Thus,  by  a  moil  wonderful  contrail,  fhc  places  the  moil 
brilliant  ihells,  in  regions  the  moll  expofe<l  to  the  ravages 
of  the  elements  ;  and,  by  another  eontraft,  no  lefs  allon- 
ifhing,  ilie  preicnts  to  the  poor  Patagonians  fpoons  and 
cups,  the  luilre  of  which  far  furpalfes,  beyond  all  conlra- 
di6lion,  the  richeil  plate  of  poliflied  Nations. 

Plence  it  may  be  interred,  that  fifhes  in  general,  and 
fliell  fifh  in  particular,  which  have  two  oppohte  colours, 
Jive  on  two  different  grounds,  as  we  have  obferved  in  the 
cafe  of  birds,  and  that  thofe  which  have  only  one  colour 
frequent  only  one  ground.  I  recolleft,  that  on  making 
the  tour  of  the  Ifle  of  France,  on  foot,  along  the  fhore  of 
the  Sea,  1  found  upon  it  nerits  with  an  afli  gray  ground, 
encircled  with  red  ribbons,  fometimes  on  the  duiky  rocks, 
ibmetimes  on  the  white  madrepores,  with  their  peach  col- 
oured flowers.  They  contrailcd  in  the  mofl  agreeable 
manner,  and  appeared  at  the  bottom,  on  the  fea  plants, 
like  fruit  growing  upon  them.  I  likewife  found  there 
the  Venus  ihell,  compJetcly  white,  with  a  rofe  coloured 
mouth,  fwelled  backward  like  eggs,  from  which  too 
they  fometimes  borrow  their  name.  But  it  is  now  im- 
poffible  for  me  to  affirm,  with  certainty,  whether  they  ad- 
hered to  the  dark  coloured  rocks,  or  to  the  white  mad- 
repores. 

There  arc  likewife.  to  be  found,  on  the  coafts  of  Nor- 
mandy, in  the  dillri6l  of  Caux,  two  forts  of  rocks,  the 
one  of  white  marl,  detached  from  the  cliffs,  the  other 
formed  of  black  bifets,  which  are  amalgamated  with  the 
craggy  cliff.  Now,  I  never  law  there,  in  general,  but  two 
forts  of  periwinkles,  called  by  the  country  people  vig?iots, 
the  one  very  common,  and  ufcd  as  food,  which  is  quite 
black,  and  the  other  white,  with  a  faint  red  mouth.  1 
prefume  not,  at  this  diilance,  to  aver,  whether  the  white 
periwinkles  attach  themfelves  to  the  white  rocks,  and  the 
black  periwinkles  to  the  black  rocks,  or  contrariwifc,  for 


S4  A  VINDICATION  of 

I  did  not  make  the  obfervation.  But  whether  they  forrr^ 
with  thofe  rocks  confonances  or  contrails,  it  is  very  fin- 
gular  that,  as  there  are  but  two  fpecies  of  rocks,  fo  there 
fhould  be  but  two  fpecies  of  periwinkles.  I  am  inclined 
to  believe,  that  the  black  periwinkle  adheres,  in  pref- 
erence, to  the  black  rock  ;  for  I  have  obferved,  in  the  Ifle 
of  France,  that  there  is  neither  black  coloured  periwin- 
kle, nor  mufcle,  becaufe  there  is  in  thofe  feas  no  pebble, 
or  rock,  precifely  of  that  colour  ;  and  I  am  perfeftly  cer- 
tain, that  mufcies  are  always  of  the  colour  of  the  ground 
on  which  they  live  :  Thofe  of  the  Ifle  of  France  are 
brown. 

It  muft  not  be  concluded,  on  the  other  hand,  that  fuch 
fhell  fifh  are  indebted,  for  their  colours,  to  the  rocks  on 
which  they  adhere  by  fusion  ;  for  it  would  thence  fol- 
low, that  the  rocks  of  Magellan's  ftrait,  which  produce 
mufcies  and  lempits  fo  rich  in  colouring,  fliould  be  them- 
felves  inlaid  with  mother  of  pearl,  opal  and  amethyft  ;  be- 
fides,  every  rock  maintains  fliell  fifli  of  very  different  col- 
ours. You  find,  at  the  bottom  of  the  rocks  on  the  coaft 
of  the  diftrift  of  Caux,  which  are  loaded  with  black  peri- 
winkles, the  azure  coloured  lobfter,  the  crab  marbled 
with  red  and  brown,  legions  of  mufcies  of  a  deep  blue, 
with  lempits  of  an  afli  gray.  All  thefe  fifhes,  when  alive, 
form  harmonies  the  moft  agreeable,  with  a  multitude  of 
marine  plants,  which  fringe  thofe  black  and  white  rocks, 
with  their  tints  of  purple,  gray,  ru ft  coloured,  browm  and 
green  ;  and  with  the  variety  of  their  forms  and  aggrega- 
tions, like  oaken  boughs,  tufts  of  different  fliapes,  garlands, 
feffoons,  and  long  cordage,  agitated  by  the  waves  in  every 
poffible  manner,  in  truth,  there  is  no  Painter  capable  of 
compofing  fimilar  groups,  let  him  give  what  fcope  he 
pleafes  to  his  imagination.  Many  of  thofe  marine  harmo- 
nies have  efcaped  me,  for  I  then  confidered  them  as  mere- 
ly the  effeft  of  chance.  I  looked  at  them,  I  admired  them, 
but  1  obferved  them  not ;  I  fufpefted,  however,  even  then^ 
tha;  the  pleafure  which  their  harmonic   combination   in° 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  85 

fpired,  muft  be  referable  to  fome  Law  with  which  I  was 
unacquainted. 

Enough  has  been  faid  to  demonftrate  how  much  Natur- 
alifts  have  mutilated  the  fineft  portion  of  Natural  Hiftory, 
by  retailing,  as  they  for  the  mofl  part  do,  ifolated  defcrip- 
tions  of  animals  and  of  plants,  without  faying  a  word  of 
the  feafon  when,  and  of  the  place  where,  they  are  to  be 
found.  By  this  negligence  they  ftrip  them  of  all  their 
beauty  ;  for  there  is  not  an  animal,  nor  a  plant  exifting, 
whofe  harmonic  point  is  not  fixed  to  a  certain  fituation, 
to  a  certain  hour  of  the  day,  or  of  the  night,  to  the  rifing, 
or  the  fetting  of  the  Sun,  to  the  phafes  ot  the  Moon,  nay, 
to  the  very  tempells  ;  to  fay  nothing  of  the  other  contrails, 
and  correfpondencies,  which  refult  from  thefe. 

I  am  fo  thoroughly  perfuaded  of  the  exillence  of  all 
thofe  harmonies,  that  1  entertain  not  the  flighteft  doubt, 
but,  on  feeing  the  colour  of  an  animal,  one  might  be  able 
to  determine,  nearly,  that  of  the  ground  which  it  inhabits  ; 
and  that  by  following  up  thofe  indications,  a  road  might 
be  paved  to  very  curious  difcoveries.  For  example,  we 
have  not  hitherto  found  on  any  fliore  the  cor?ie  d'ammon^ 
that  fo  fill  fo  commion,  and  of  a  fize  fo  confiderable,  in 
our  quarries.  I  think  we  ought  to  look  for  that  brown 
coloured  fliell  fifh  in  grafTy  m.arine  places,  fuch  as  thofe 
in  which  the  fea  tortoife  paftures.  I  do  not  know  that 
any  one  has  hitherto  thought  of  dragging  thofe  bottoms, 
becaufe  of  the  abundance  of  fea  plants  which  grow  upon 
them,  and  becaufe  they  are  frequently  of  a  great  depth, 
and  at  a  great  diftance  from  the  coafts,  fuch  as  thofe  which 
furround  the  Gape  de  Verd  iflands,  or,  according  to  oth- 
ers, toward  Florida,  and  which,  at  certain  feafons,  fet  their 
herbage  a  floating  in  fuch  quantities,  that  the  Sea  is  cov- 
ered with  it  for  the  fpace  of  thirty  or  forty  leagues,  and 
fhips  can  with  difficulty  force  their  way  through  it.  If 
the  mofl  brilliant  fliells  are  to  be  found  on  dark.grounds, 
dufky  fhells  ought  to  be  found  on  r^rccn  grounds. 


86  A  VINDICATION  of 

We  meet  with  thofe  contrails  even  in  the  brute  foils 
of  the  earth,  as  I  could  evince  to  demonftration,  did  time 
permit.  The  following  fimple  ftrain  of  reafoning  is  fuf- 
iicient  to  afcertain  the  truth  of  this.  If  an  uniform  and 
mechanical  caufe  had  produced  the  Globe  of  the  Earth, 
it  mufl  have  been  univerfaily  of  the  fame  matter,  and  of 
the  fame  colour ;  the  hills,  the  mountains,  the  rocks,  the 
fands,  muft  have  been  amalgams,  or  the  rubbifh,  of  each 
other ;  but  this  is  not  found  to  be  the  cafe  in  any  one 
diftrift,  of  however  fmall  extent.  In  general,  as  has  been 
faid,  the  foil  is  white  to  the  North,  and  dark  coloured  to 
the  South,  in  order  to  reflefl  the  heat  in  the  fir  ft  cafe,  and 
to  abforb  it  in  the  fecond  ;  but  notwithftanding  thefe 
general  difpofitions,  you  find  in  every  place,  in  particular, 
the  moft  wonderful  variety.  In  the  fame  canton  may  be 
found  red  mountains,  black  rocks,  white  plains,  and  yel- 
low fands.  Their  fubftance  is  as  much  varied  as  their 
colour  ;  there  are  granites,  calcareous  Hones,  gypfes  or 
plallers,  and  vitrifiable  fands. 

In  the  Ifle  of  France,  the  rocks  of  the  mountains  are 
blackilli,  the  earth  in  the  valleys  is  red,  and  the  fands  on 
the  Ihore  are  white.  The  rocks  there  are  vitrifiable,  and 
the  fands  calcareous.  When  1  was  in  that  ifland,  a  pri- 
vate adventurer  having  formed  the  plan  of  a  glafs  manu- 
factory, the  procefs  turned  out  the  direftly  contrary  of 
what  he  had  propofed ;  for,  upon  lighting  up  his  furnace 
with  great  formality  and  pomp,  the  fand,  of  which  he  ex- 
pected to  make  glafs,  changed  into  chalk,  and  the  ftones 
of  his  furnace  became  vitrified.  Though  it  be  a  rare  thing 
to  fee  white  earths  between  the  Tropics,  white  fands  are, 
how^evcr,  common  there,  upon  the  ftiores.  It  is  certain 
that  this  colour,  from  its  luftre,  and  its  refraftion  to  the 
Horizon,  renders  low  lands  perceptible  at  a  very  great 
diflance,  as  has  been  well  remaFkcd  by  John  Hii^^o  de 
Linjchotten,  who,  but  for  thofe  fentinels  planted  by  Na- 
ture on  moft  of  the  gloomy  and  low  coafts  of  India,  muft 
there  hiive  feveral  times  made  fliipwreck.     On  the  coails 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  8^ 

€f  the  Pais  de  Caux  the  fands  are  gray,  but  the  cliffs  are 
white  ;  together  with  this,  they  are  divided  into  black  and 
horizontal  ftripes  of  pebbles,  which  form  contrails  very 
perceptible  at  a  great  diftance. 

There  are  places  where  we  find  white  rocks,  and  red 
lands,  as  in  quarries  of  mill  ftone  ;  from  thefe  refult  very 
agreeable  effefts,  efpecially  in  connexion  with  their  nat- 
ural acceffories  of  vegetables,  and  of  animals.  I  fhould 
digrefs  too  far,  were  I  to  enter  into  any  detail  on  this  fub- 
jeft.  It  is  fufficient  for  me,  at  prefent,  to  recommend  to 
Naturalifts  to  ftudy  Nature,  as  the  great  Painters  do ;  that 
is,  by  uniting  the  harmonies  of  the  three  kingdoms.  Ev- 
ery one,  who  fliall  obferve  in  this  manner,  will  find  a  new 
light  diffufed  over  the  perufal  of  Voyages  and  of  Natural 
Hiftory,  though  their  Authors  fcarcely  ever  fpeak  of  thofe 
contrails,  except  by  chance,  and  without  expreffing  any 
doubt  about  the  matter.  But  every  man  will  be  himfelf 
in  a  condition  to  difcover  their  delightful  effefts,  in  what 
is  called  brute  Nature,  I  mean  that  with  which  Man  has 
not  intermeddled.  Let  me  fugged  the  infallible  means  of 
diilinguilhing  them  :  It  is  fimply  this,  as  often  as  a  nat- 
ural objeft  prefents  to  you  a  fentiment  of  pleafure,  you 
may  reft  affured  that  it  exhibits  fome  harmonic  concert. 

Beyond  all  doubt,  animals  and  plants  of  the  fame  cli- 
mate have  not  received  from  the  Sun,  nor  from  the  elements, 
liveries  fo  varied,  and  fo  charafteriftic.  A  thoufand  and 
a  thoufand  new  obfervations  may  be  made  upon  their  con- 
trafts.  He  who  has  not  feen  them  in  their  natural  place, 
has  not  yet  become  acquainted  with  their  beauty,  or  their 
deformity.  Not  only  are  they  in  oppofition  to  the  grounds 
of  their  refpe61ive  habitations,  but  they  are  fo  likewife 
between  themfelves,  as  to  genus  and  genus ;  and  it  is  wor- 
thy of  remark,  that,  when  thefe  contrafts  are  eftablifhedy 
they  exift  in  all  the  parts  of  the  two  individuals.  We  lliall 
fpeak  fomewhat  of  thofe  of  plants  in  the  following  Study, 
by  fimply  glancing  at  that  delightful  and  inexhaufliblc 
fubjeft. 


6S  A  VINDICATION  of 

Thofe  of  animals  are  flill  farther  extended  ;  they  are 
dppofed  not  only  in  forms  and  in  gcllures,  but  in  inftinfts ; 
and  with  differences  fo  decidedly  marked,  they  love  to 
aflbciate  with  each  other,  in  the  fame  places.  It  is  this 
confonance  of  tafles  w^hich  diftinguilhes,  as  1  have  faid, 
beings  which  are  in  contraft,  from  thofe  which  are  con- 
trary, or  enemies.  Thus  the  bee  and  the  butterfly  extra6l 
the  ne6lar  of  the  fame  flowers  ;  the  finglehoofed  horfe, 
fnufEng  up  the  wind,  with  his  mane  flowing  over  his  grace- 
ful neck,  delights  to  amble  about  airily  over  the  fame 
meadows  an  which  the  ponderous  bull  impreffes  his  clo- 
ven foot ;  the  dull  and  ileady  afs  takes  pleafure  in  fcramb- 
ling  over  the  rocks  where  the  nimble  and  capricious  goat 
frifks  and  bounds ;  the  cat  and  the  dog  live  peaceably  by 
the  fame  fire  fide,  unlefs  where  the  tyranny  of  Man  has 
vitiated  their  difpofitions,  by  a  treatm.ent  calculated  to  ex- 
cite hatreds  and  jcaloufies  between  them. 

Finally,  contrails  exift  not  only  in  the  Works  of  Natui'e 
in  general,  but  in  each  individual  in  particular,  and  con- 
ftitute,  as  well  as  confonances,  the  organization  of  bodies. 
If  you  examine  one  of  thofe  bodies,  of  whatever  fpecies 
it  may  be,  you  will  remark  in  it  forms  abfolutely  oppo- 
fite,  and,  neverthelefs,  confonant.  It  is  thus  that,  in  ani- 
mals, the  excretory  organs  contraft  with  thofe  of  nutrition. 
The  long  tails  of  horfes  and  bulls  are  oppofed  to  the  large 
fize  of  their  heads  and  of  their  necks,  and  come  in  as  a  fup- 
plement  to  the  motions  of  thefe  anterior  parts,  which  are 
too  unwieldy  to  drive  away  the  infefts  that  infeft  them* 
On  the  contrary,  the  broad  tail  of  the  peacock  forms  a  con- 
traft with  the  length  of  the  neck,  and  the  fmallnefs  of  the 
Lead,  of  that  magnificent  bird.  The  proportions  ot  other 
animals  prefent  oppofitions  which  are  no  lefs  harmonic, 
nor  lefs  happily  adapted  to  the  neceffities  of  each  fpecies.* 

*  This  Law  of  contrafls  is,  if  I  am  not  miftaken,  a  delicious  fourcc  of 
obfcrvation  and  difcovery.  The  women,  I  repeat  it,  always  neaicr  to 
Nature  than  we  are,  employ  it  continually  in  the  affortmcnt  of  the  colours 
which  they  ufc  in  drcfs,  whereas  no  Xa'.uraliil,  as  far  as  I  know,  has  ever 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  89 

Marmonies,  confonances,  progreflions,  and  contrails, 
muft,  therefore,  be  reckoned  among  the  firft  elements  of 
Nature.     To  thefe  we  are  indebted  for  the  fentiments   of 

obferved  that  Nature  herfelf  afts  in  conformity  to  it,  in  the  harmony  of  all 
her  Works.  Any  one  may  find  a  demonftration  of  this,  without  ftirring 
beyond  his  own  houfe.  for  eximple,  though  there  be  among  dogs  a  fingu- 
lar  variety  of  colours,  never  was  any  one  feen  red,  green,  or  blue  :  But  they 
are,  for  the  mod  part,  of  two  oppofite  tinti,  the  one  clear,  and  the  other 
dark,  in  order  that  in  whatever  part  of  the  houfe  they  are,  they  may  be  per- 
ceptible on  the  furniture,  with  the  colour  of  which  they  would  frequently 
be  confounded, 

Batthough  the  colours  of  thofc  animals,  be  taken,  as  well  as  thofc  of  raoft 
^quadrupeds,  from  the  two  extreme  terms  of  the  progreflion  of  colours,  that 
is,  black  and  white,  I  do  not  recolleft  that  I  ever  faw  a  dog  completely 
white,  or  completely  black.  White  dogs  always  have  fome  fpols  on  their 
fl!;.ins,  were  it  but  the  tip  of  the  fnout,  of  a  dark  colour.  Such  as  arc  black 
or  brown,  have  ftreaks  of  white,  or  fire  coloured  fpecks  j  fo  that  wherever 
they  are,  you  can  eafily  perceive  them.  I  have  farther  remarked  in  them 
Ihis  inftinft,  efpccially  in  dogs  of  a  dufky  colour  ;  when  they  want  to  lie 
down,  they  always  refort  to  a  white  coloured  ground,  in  preference  to  one 
of  any  other  colour.  The  Ladies  well  know  this  to  be  the  cafe ;  for  if 
there  happens  to  be  a  little  dog,  of  a  dark  hue,  in  an  apartment  where 
company  is  aflembled,  he  hardly  ever  fails  to  goto  repofe  at  a  Ladv's  foot, 
and  on  her  petticoats. 

The  inftinft,  which  prompts  the  dog  to  retire  to  reft  on  white  ftuffs, 
arifesfrom  the  feeling  which  he  himfelf  has  of  the  contraft  affefted  by  the 
fleas,  by  which  he  is  frequently  tormented.  Fleas,  in  whatever  place,  re- 
fort  to  white  coloured  objefts.  If  you  enter  into  a  room,  where  there  ar« 
many  of  thofe  infefts,  if  you  happen  to  wear  white  ftockings,  thefe  will  in- 
fiantly  attract  them.  They  will  even  croud  to  a  fingle  (beet  of  white  pa- 
per. And  this  is  the  reafon  why  light  coloured  dogs  are  much  more  In- 
fcfted  by  them  than  others-  I  have  likewife  obferved,  that  wherever 
there  are  dogs  of  a  white  colour,  the  black  and  the  brown  always  pay  court 
to  them,  and  give  them  a  decided  preference  as  play  mates,  undoubtedly 
to  get  rid  of  the  fleas  at  their  expenfc.  In  faying  this,  however,  I  do  not 
mean  to  throw  an  imputation  of  treachery  on  their  profefTions  of  friend- 
ftiip.  Were  it  not  for  the  inftinft  of  thefe  minute,  black,  nimble,  noftur- 
nal  infefts,  toward  the  white  colour,  it  would  be  impoflible  to  perceive, 
and  to  catch  them. 

The  common  deep  coloured  fly  reforts,  in  like  manner,  to  white  and 
brilliant  objefts ;  and  this  accounts  for  the  tarniibing  of  every  thing  gloflfy 
and  gilded  in  our  apartments.  The  Qefh  fly  delights,  on  the  contrary,  t* 
fettle  on  the  livid  colours  of  meat  in  a  ftate  of  putridity.  Kis  blue  c«rfcJ»t 
makes  him  eaftly  difccrniblc  on  tha:  ground. 

TOL.     II.  M 


90' 


A  VINDICATION  OF 


order,  of  beauty  and  of  pleafure,  which  fpring  up  in  die 
mind,  at  the  fight  of  her  Works  ;  and  from  their  abfencc 
arife  the  uneafy  feelings  of  diforder,  uglinefs,  languor, 
and  difguft.  They  extend  equally  to  all  the  kingdoms  ; 
and  though  I  have  limited  myfelf,  in  the  fequel  of  this 
Work,  to  an  examination  of  their  effefts  in  the  vegetable 
kingdom  only,  it  is  impofTible  for  me,  however,  to  deny 
myfcli  the  pleafure  of  indicating  them,  at  leaft,  in  the  hu- 
man figure.  It  is  here  th^it  Nature  has  combined  all  the 
harmonic  exprefiions  in  their  higheft  degree  of  excellency. 
All  X  can  do  is  to  trace  a  feeble  fketch  of  it.     To  acknowl- 

If  we  extend  thefe  cor.trafts  farther,  we  fhall  find  that,  not  only  all  fan- 
guinivorous  infc£^s  have  the  inftinft  of  oppofing  their  colours  to  tbofe  of  th* 
fuuations  in  which  thry  live,  but  all  cainivorous  animals  likewife  ;  whereas 
all  feeble,  gentle  and  innoxious  animal?,  as  we  havcfeen,  are  farnifhcd  with 
means  and  inftinfta  of  ccnfon2ncc  v.irh  the  ground  on  which  they  are  made 
to  inhabit.  Thus  has  Nature  willed  it  fhould  be,  in  order  that  the  firft 
might  be  perceived  by  their  enemies,  and  that  the  fecond  m'ght  be  enabled 
to  efcape  them. 

From  thofe  natural  Laws  might  be  deduced  a  multitude  of  ufeful  and 
agreeable  confequences,  tending  to  the  improvement  of  our  habitations,  in 
refpeS  of  cleanlincfs  and  convcniency.  For  example,  in  order  the  more 
readily  to  deRroy  the  infe£>s  which  difturb  our  deep,  and  which  are  fo 
com.mon  ia  Paris,  it  would  be  proper  to  have  the  alcoves,  the  ftaining,  the 
drapery,  the  wooden  frame  of  our  beds,  of  white  or  faint  colours  j  o» 
which  infefts  might  be  eafily  perceived. 

As  toconveniency,  every  one  muft  be  fenfible  how  necsffary  it  is  that  the 
golours  of  different  pieces  of  furniture  fhould  form  a  contraft,  for  the  pur- 
pofc  of  being  diftinguilhcd  with  facility.  I  am  frequently  at  a  lofs,  for  in- 
ftance,  to  know  what  is  become  of  my  fnufl"  box,  bccaufc  it  is  black,  like 
the  table  on  which  I  put  it  down.  If  Nature  had  rot  been  poffeffed  of 
more  intelligence  than  I  am,  the  grcatefl  pirt  of  her  Works  would  utterly 
dlfanpear.  It  is  very  aftonifliing  that  Philofophers,  who  have  purfued  fo 
many  curious  rcfrarches  rcfpcfting  the  nature  of  colours,  fhould  never  have 
fuggeftcd  a  fyllable  rcfpefting  their  contraftj,  without  which  nothing  would 
be  diftinguiihable ;  or  rather,  their  forgetfulnefs  is  not  furprifmg :  Man  is 
inccffantly  purfuing  the  illufion  which  efcapcs  him,  and  ncglefls  the  ufeful 
truth  which  is  lying  at  his  foot. 

The  harmonics  of  colours  have,  befidcs,  a  mighty  influence  upon  the  paf- 
fions :  But  I  muft  not  prefume  to  fay  any  thing  wilh  regard  to  this,  in  a 
Coantry  where  the  Women  employ  them  with  fuch  unbounded  fway.  To 
the  Women  I  ftand  indebted  for  the  firft  idea  I  had  of  ftudying  the  elements 
ef  the  taws,  by  which  Nature  hcrfclf  i'lrivcs  to  communicate  pleafure  to  vs* 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  yj^^ 

edge  the  truth,  this  is  not  precifely  the  proper  place,  nei- 
ther have  1  leifure  to  arrange  more  than  a  part  of  the  ob- 
fervations  which  I  have  coUefted,  on  this  vaft  and  inter- 
efting  fubjeft.  But  the  little,  which  I  am  going  to  ad- 
vance, will  be  fufficient  to  overturn  the  pofition  main- 
tained by  ixien  of  but  too  high  celebrity  in  the  World  oi 
Science,  namely,  That  human  Beauty  is  arbitrary. 

I  w4il  even  go  fo  far  as  to  flatter  myfelf  with  the  hope, 
that  thefe  rude  EfTays  may  induce  wife  men,  who  love 
Nature,  and  who  wifli  to  be  acquainted  with  her  Laws^ 
to  dig  into  the  recedes  of  this  vaft  mountain  of  hidden 
treafure,  in  v/hich  Truth  lies  buried.  Their  multiplied 
illumination  wiii  condu6l  them,  without  difficulty,  through 
the  whole  extent  of  that,  invaluable  mine,  of  which,  gropi- 
ing  like  a  blind  man,  I  have  traced  only  the  firft  fuperfi;. 
€ial  furrows.  They  will  be  led  on  from  one  rich  vein  of 
precious  ore,  to  another  ftill  richer,  fince  even  1,  if  I  may 
prefume  to  fay  fo,  have  been  able,  at  the  bottom  of  a  val- 
ley, and  on  the  fandy  bed  of  a  little  rivulet,  to  pick  up  i 
few  ftraggling  grains  of  gold. 


OF  T?IE  HUiMAN  FIGURE. 


All  the  harmonic  expreffions  fire  combined  In  the  Hu- 
man Figure.  In  treating  this  article,  I  fhall  confine  my- 
felf to  the  examination  of  fome  of  thofe  which  compofe 
the  head  of  Man.  Obferve,  its  form  is  an  approxima- 
tion to  the  fpherical,  which,  as  we  have  fcen,  is  the  form, 
by  way  of  excellence.  I  do  not  believe  that  this  config- 
uration is  common  to  it  with  tb^t  of  any  animal  Avhatever. 
On  its  anterior  part  is  traced  the  oval  of  the  face,  termin- 
ated by  the  triangle  of  the  nofe,  and  encompaffed  by  the 
radiations  of  the  hair.  The  head  is,  befides,  fupported  bv 
a  neck  of  confiderably  lefs  diameter  than  itfelf,  whick 
iJetaches  it  fr«m  the  body  by  a  concave  part. 


92  A  VINDICATION  of 

This  flight  {ketch  prefents  to  us,  at  firft  glance,  the 
five  harmonic  terms  of  the  elementary  generation  of  forms. 
The  hair  exhibits  lines  ;  the  nofe  the  triangle ;  the  head 
the  fphere  ;  the  face  the  oval  ;  and  the  void  under  the 
chin  the  parabola.  The  neck,  which,  like  a  column,  fuf- 
tains  the  head,  exhibits,  likewife,  the  very  agreeable  har- 
monic form  of  the  cylinder,  compofed  of  the  circular  and 
quadrilateral. 

-  Thefe  forms,  however,  are  not  traced  in  a  ftiff  and  geo- 
metrical manner,  but  imperceptibly  run  into  each  other, 
and  mutually  blend,  as  the  parts  of  the  lame  whole  ought 
tt^^Q.  -Thus  the  hair  does  not  fall  in  ftraight  lines,  but, 
in  flowing  ringlets,  harmonizes  with  the  oval  of  the  face. 
The  triangle  of  the  nofe  is  neither  acute,  nor  does  it  pre- 
sent a  right  angle;  but,  by  the  undulatory  fwelling  of  the 
noftrils,  prefents  a  harmony  with  the  heart  form  of  the 
mouth,  and,  doping  toward  the  forehead,  melts  away  into 
the  cavities  of  the  eyes.  The  fpheroid  of  the  head,  in 
iike  manner,  amalgamates  with  the  oval  of  the  face.  The 
fame  thing  holds  -vith  refpeft  to  the  other  parts,  as  Nature 
employs,  in  their  general  combination,  the  roundings  of 
the  forehead,  of  the  cheeks,  of  the  chin,  of  the  neck,  that 
is,  portions  of  the  moll  beautiful  of  harmonic  expreflions, 
which  is  the  fphere. 

There  are,  farther,  feveial  remarkable  proportions  which 
form,  with  each  other,  very  pleafing  harmonies  and  con- 
trails :  Such  is  that  of  the  forehead,  which  prefents  a 
quadrilateral  form,  in  oppofition  to  the  triangle,  com- 
pounded of  the  eyes  and  the  mouth ;  and  that  of  the  ears, 
formed  of  very  ingenious  acoullic  curves,  fuch  as  are  not 
to  be  met  with  In  the  auditory  organ  of  animals,  becaufe, 
in  the  cafe  ot  mere  animals,  it  is  not  intended  to  coUeft, 
like  that  of  Man,  all  the  modulations  of  fpeech. 

But  I  mufl  be  permitted  to  expatiate,  fomewhat  more 
at  large,  on  the  charming  forms,  afligned  by  Nature  to  the 
eyes  and  the  mouth,  which  fhe  has  placed  in  the  full  blaze' 
#f  evidence,  becaufe  they  are  the  two  a£live  organs  of  th© 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  93 

foul.  The  mouth  confifts  of  two  lips,  of  which  the  up- 
per is  moulded  into  the  fhape  of  a  heart,  that  form  fo 
lovely,  as  to  have  become  proverbial  for  its  beauty  ;  and 
the  under  is  rounded  into  a  demicylindric  fcgment.  In 
the  opening  between  the  lips,  we  have  a  glimpfe  oi  the 
quadrilateral  figure  of  the  teeth,  whofe  perpendicular  and 
parallel  lines  contrail  moll  agreeably  with  the  round  forms 
adjoining,  and  fo  much  the  more,  as  we  have  feen,  that  the 
firft  generative  term  being  brought  into  union  with  the 
fupremely  excellent  harmonic  term,  that  is,  the  flraight 
line  with  the  fphericai  form,  the  moft  harmonic  of  all  con- 
trails refults  from  it. 

The  fame  relations  are  to  be  found  in  the  eyes,  the  forms 
of  which  combine  ftill  more  the  harmonic  elementary  ex- 
preffions  ;  as  it  was  fit  the  chief  of  all  the  organs  fliould 
do.  They  are  two  globes,  fringed  on  the  lids  with  eye- 
lafhes,  radiating  with  divergent  pencil  Urokes,  which  form 
w^ith  them  a  mofl  delightful  contraft,  and  prefent  a  ftrik- 
ing  confonance  with  the  Sun,  after  which  they  feem  to 
have  been  modelled,  having,  like  that  orb,  a  fphericai  fig- 
ure, encircled  with  divergent  rays,  in  the  eyelaflies  ;  hav- 
ing a  movement  of  felf  rotation,  and  poffefling  the  power, 
like  him,  of  veiling  themfelves  in  clouds,  by  means  of 
their  lids'* 

The  fame  elementary  harmonies  may  be  traced  in  the 
colours  of  the  head,  as  well  as  in  its  forms  ;  for  we  have 
in  the  face,  the  pure  white  exhibited  in  the  teeth  and  in 
the  eyes  ;  then  the  (liades  of  yellow,  which  diffolve  into 
its  carnation,  as  the  Painters  well  know  ;  after  that  the  red, 
the  eminently  excellent  colour,  which  glows  on  the  lips 
and  on  the  cheeks.  You  fanher  remark  the  blue  of  the 
veins,  and  fometimes  that  of  the  eyeballs  ;  and  finally,  the 
black  of  the  hair  which,  by  its  oppofiiion,  gives  relief  to 
the  colours  of  the  face,  as  the  vacuum  of  the  neck  detaches 
the  forms  of  the  head. 

You  will  pleafe  to  obferve,  that  NaUue  employs  not, 
m  decorating  the  hun] an  face,  colours   harftilv  oppofcd; 


94  A  VINDICATION  op 

but  ble.nds  them,  as  (he  does  the  forms,  foftly  and  infen- 
fibly  into  each  other.  Thus,  the  white  meks  here  into 
the  yellow,  and  there  into  the  red.  The  blue  of  the  veins 
has  a  greenifli  caft.  The  hair  is  rarely  of  a  jet  black  ;  but 
brown  chefnut,  flaxen,  and,  in  general,  of  a  colour,  into 
which  a  fligjbt  tint  of  the  carnation  enters,  in  order  to  pre- 
vent a  violently  harlli  oppohtion.  You  will  farther  ob- 
ferve,  that  as  (he  employs  fpherical  fegments  in  forming 
the  mufcles  which  unite  the  organs,  and  in  order  particu- 
larly to  diftinguifli  thefe  very  organs,  flie  makes  ufe  of 
red  for  the  fame  purpofes.  She  has,  accordingly,  extend- 
ed a  fli'-Tht  fhade  of  it  to  the  forehead,  which  fhe  has 
Hrengthcned  upon  the  cheeks,  and  which  flie  has  applied 
pure  and  unm.ixed  to  the  mouth,  that  organ  of  the  heart 
where  it  forms  a  mod:  agreeable  contrail  with  the  white- 
iiefs  of  the  teeih.  The  union  of  this  colour,  with  that 
harm.onic  form,  is  the  moft  powerful  confonance  of  beaur 
ty ;  and  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  wherever  the  fpher- 
ical forms  fwell,  there  the  red  colouj  ftreagthens,  except 
in  the  eyes. 

As  the  eyes  are  the  principal  organs  of  the  foul,  they 
are  deftined  to  exprefs  all  its  emotions  ;  which  could  not 
have  been  done  with  the  harmonic  red  tint,  for  this  would 
have  given  but  one  fingle  expreffion.  Nature,  in  order 
there  to  exprefs  the  contrary  paflions,  has  united  in  the 
eye  the  two  moft  oppofite  of  colours,  the  white  of  the  or- 
bit and  the  black  of  the  iris,  and  fometimcs  of  the  ball, 
which  form  a  very  harfli  oppofition,  when  the  globes  of 
the  eyes  are  difplaycd  in  the  full  extent  of  their  diameter  ^ 
but  by  means  of  the  eyelids,  which  Man  can  contraft,  or 
dilate,  at  pleafure,  he  is  enabled  to  give  them  the  exprQf- 
:fion  of  all  the  paflions,  from  love  to  fuiy. 

Thofe  eyes  whofe  balls  are  blue  are  naturally  the  foft- 
cft,  becaufe  the  oppofition,  in  this  cafe,  is  lefs  harfti  with 
the  adjacent  white  ;  but  they  are  the  moft  terrible  ot  all 
when  animated  with  rage,  and  this  from  a  moral  contraft, 
which  con  drains   us  to  conGder  thofe  as  the.  moft  forrui- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  95 

dable  of  all  objefts,  that  menace  evil,  after  having  encour- 
aged us  to  expeft  good.  Perfons,  therefore,  who  are  thus 
diftinguiftied,  ought  to  be  carefully  on  their  guard  againft 
treachery  to  that  charafter  of  benevolence  beftowed  on 
them  by  Nature;  for  blue  eyes  exprefs,  by  their  colour, 
fomething  enchantingly  celeftial. 

As  to  the  movements  of  the  mufcles  of  the  face,  it  would 
be  extremely  difficult  to  defcribe  them,  though  I  am  ful- 
ly perfuaded  it  might  be  poflible  to  explain  their  Lawg. 
Whoever  fhall  attempt  this,  mull  of  neceflity  refer  them 
to  the  moral  affeftions.  Thofe  of  joy  are  horizontal,  as 
if  the  foul,  in  the  enjoyment  of  felicity,  had  a  difpofition 
to  extend  itfelf.  Thofe  of  chagrin  are  perpendicular,  as 
if,  under  the  prefTure  of  calamity,  the  m.ind  was  looking 
toward  Heaven  for  refuge,  or  feeking  it  in  the  bofom  of 
the  earth.  Into  fuch  an  explanation  of  the  Laws  of  muf- 
cular  motion  rauft  likewife  enter,  the  alterations  of  col- 
ours, and  the  contraftions  of  forms,  ajid  in  thefe,  at  leaft, 
we  Ihall  difcovcr  the  truth  of  the  principle  which  we  have 
laid  down,  that  the  expreflion  of  pleafure  is  in  the  har- 
mony of  contraries,  blending  w4th  each  other  in  colours, 
forms,  and  motions  ;  and  that  the  expreflion  of  pain  con- 
fifts  in  the  violence  of  their  oppofitions.  The  eyes  alone 
have  motions  ineffable  ;  and  it  is  remarkable,  that,  under 
the  influence  of  very  ftrong  emotions,  they  are  fuflufed 
with  tears,  and  thus  feem  to  have  a  farther  analogy  with, 
the  orb  of  day,  who,  in  the  feafon  of  tempells,  fhrouds 
himfelf  in  rainy  diftillations. 

The  principal  organs  of  fenfe,  four  of  which  are  placed 
in  the  bead,  have  particular  contrafls,  which  detach  their 
fpherical  forms,  by  means  of  radiated  forms  ;  and  their 
filming  colours  by  means  of  dulky  tints.  Thus  the 
bright  organ  of  vifion  is  contrnfted  by  the  eyebrows; 
thofe  of  fmell  and  talle,  by  the  mAiftaches  ;  the  organ  of 
hearing,  by  that  part  of  the  hair  called  ihe.  favouring  lock, 
which  feparates  the  ear  from  the  face  ;  and  the  face  itfelf 


gS.  A  VINDICATION  of 

is  diftinguifhed  from  the  reft  of  the  head,  by  the  beard, 
and  by  the  hair. 

We  fhall  not  here  examine  the  other  proportions  o£ 
the  human  figure  in  the  cylindric  form  of  the  neck,  op- 
pofed  to  the  fpheroid  of  the  head,  and  to  the  plane  furface 
of  the  breaft ;  the  hemifpherical  forms  of  the  paps,  which 
contraft  with  the  flatnefs  of  the  cheft  ;  as  well  as  the 
cylindrical  pyramids  of  the  arms  and  fingers  with  the  om- 
oplate  of  the  flioulders  ;  the  confonances  of  the  fingers 
with  the  arms,  by  means  of  three  fimilar  articulations,  with 
a  multitude  of  other  curvatures,  and  of  other  harmonies, 
which,  hitherto,  have  not  fo  much  as  a  name  in  any  lan- 
guage, though  they  are,  in  every  country,  the  all  power- 
ful exprellion  of  beauty. 

The  human  body  is  the  only  one  which  unites,  in  it- 
felf,  the  modulations,  and  the  concerts,  inexpreflibly  a- 
greeable,  of  the  five  elementary  form.s,  and  of  the  five 
primordial  colours,  without  exhibiting  any  thing  of  the 
harfh  and  rude  oppofitions  perceptible  in  the  brute  cre- 
ation, fuch  as  the  prickles  of  the  hedge  hog,  the  horns  of 
the  bull,  the  tufks  of  the  wild  boar,  the  fangs  of  the  lion, 
the  marbled  (kin  of  the  dog,  and  the  livid  and  difgufting 
colours  of  venomous  animals.  It  is  the  only  one  of 
which  the  firft  touch,  is  perceptible,  and  which  you  can 
fee  completely  ;  other  animals  being  difguifed  under  hair, 
or  feathers,  or  fcales,  which  conceal  their  limbs,  their 
fliape,  their  fkin.  Farther,  it  is  the  only  form  which,  in 
its  perpendicular  attitude,  difplays  all  its  pofitions  and  di- 
reftions  at  once ;  for  you  can  hardly  perceive  more  of  a 
quadruped,  of  a  bird,  of  a  fifh,  than  one  half,  in  the  hori- 
zontal pohtion  which  is  proper  to  them,  becaufe  the  up- 
per part  of  their  body  conceals  the  under. 

We  muft,  likewife,  remark,  that  Man's  progreflive  mo- 
tion is  fubjeft  to  neither  the  (hocks,  nor  the  tardinefs  of 
movem.ent  of  moft  quadrupeds,  nor  to  the  rapidity  of  that 
•f  birds ;  but  is  the  rcfult   of  movements  the  moft  har- 


DiVINE  PROVIDENCE.  gf 

rnonic,  as  his  £gure  is,  of  forms,  and  of  colours,  the  moft 
delightful.* 

*  It  has  been  maintained  by  certain  celebrated  Authors,  that  the  Ne* 
groes  confider  their  own  colour  as  more  beautiful  than  that  of  the  whites  ; 
but  it  is  a  miftake.  I  have  put  many  a  queflion,  on  this  fubjeft,  to  black, 
people,  who  were  in  my  own  fervice,  in  the  Ifle  of  Francfe,  and  who  were 
at  perfeft  liberty  to  tell  what  they  really  thought,  efpecially  on  a  fubjeft 
fo  indifferent  to  flavefi,  as  the  beauty  of  the  whites.  I  fometimes  afked 
them  whether  of  the  two  they  would  prefer,  a  black  wife,  or  a  white  ? 
They  never  hefitated  an  inftant  in  declaring  their  preference  of  the  white 
woman.  Nay,  I  have  fecn  a  Negro,  who  had  been  almoft  flead  alive  by 
the  whip,  in  one  of  our  plantations,  exprefs  the  higheft  delight  when  the 
fears  of  his  fores  began  to  whiten,  becaufe  it  fuggefted  the  hope,  that  he 
was  thereby  going  to  change  colour,  and  to  be  negro  no  longer.  The 
poor  wretch  would  gladly  have  parted  with  his  whole  hide  to  become 
white.  This  preference,  we  (hall  be  told,  is,  in  that  cafe,  the  effeft  of  the 
fuperiority  which  they  are  obliged  to  afcribe  to  the  Europeans.  But  the 
tyranny  of  their  matters  ought  rather  to  infpire  abhorrence  of  the  colour. 
BeGdes,  the  black  men  and  women,  of  our  colonies,  exprefs  the  fame  taftei 
that  our  pcafantry  at  home  do,  for  fluffs  of  lively  and  glaring  colour's. 
Their  fupreme  luxury  in  drefs  is  a  red  handkerchief  tied  round  their  head. 
Nature  has  beftowed  no  other  tints  9n  the  rofes  of  Africa  than  upon  thofe 
cxf  Europe. 

If  the  judgment  of  black  flaves  is  confidered  as  a  fufpicious  authority  on 
the  fubjeft,  we  may  refer  the  decifton  to  the  tafte  of  the  Sovereigns  of  Af- 
rica, who  are  under  no  temptation  to  diffemble.  They  fairly  acknowled<^e 
that  in  this,  as  well  as  in  many  other  refpcfts,  they  have  been  more  hard- 
ly dealt  with  than  the  Europeans.  African  Princes  have  made  frequent 
application  to  the  Goveroois  of  the  Englilli,  Dutch  and  French  fettlements 
on  the  coaA,  for  white  women,  under  a  promife  of  very  ample  privilet^eJ 
in  return.  Lami,  an  Englifh  agent  at  Ardra,  when  prifoner  to  the  King  of 
iDahomay,  in  the  year  1724,  fent  word  to  the  Governor  of  the  Englilhfort 
at  Juida,  that  if  he  could  fend  a  white  woman,  or  even  a  mulatto,  to  this 
Prince,  (he  might  acquire  an  unbounded  influence  over  his  mind.  (Gener- 
al Hijlory  ofVoydges,  by  the  Abbe  Prevojl.     Book  viii.  page  96,) 

Another  King,  on  a  different  part  of  the  coaft  of  Africa,  promifed,  one 
day,  to  a  Capuchin  miffionary,  who  was  preaching  the  Gofpel  in  his  pref- 
ence,  to  difmifs  his  feraglio,  and  embrace  Chriftianity,  if  he  would  pro- 
cure him  a  white  woman  to  wife.  The  zealous  miffionary  immediately 
repaired  to  the  ncarcft  Portuguefc  fettlement;  and  having  enquired,  whetJi- 
tx  there  might  not  be  among  them  fomc  poor  and  virtuous  damfel,  fuchas 
might  fuit  his  purpofe,  he  was  informed  of  fuch  a  perfonj  the  niece  of  si 
Vtry  poor  man  of  family,  who  lived  in  a  ftate  of  great  privacy.  He  wait- 
ed for  her  one  Sunday  morning,  at  the  door  of  the  church,  as  flie  was  re- 
turning from  mafs  with  her  kinfman  ]  aad  addrefifing  himfelf  to  the  uacle, 
VQL.  II.  N 


9^  A  VINDICATION  ot 

The  more  that  the  muUiplied  confonances  of  the  ha- 
man  figure  are  agreeable,  the  more  difgufting  are  its  dif- 
fonances.      This  is  the  reafon  that,  on  the  face  of  the 

before  all  the  people,  charged  him,  in  the  name  of  God,  and  as  he  valued 
the  intcrefts  of  religion,  thnt  he  would  beftow  his  nieoe  in  marriage  on  the 
Negro  King.  The  gentleman  and  his  niece  having  given  their  confent,  the 
black  Prince  married  her,  after  having  difmiffed  all  his  other  women,  and 
received  public  baptifm.     (Hiflory  of  Ethiopia,  by  Labst.) 

The  bcil  informed  travellers  relate  many  fuch  anecdotes,  of  a  fimilar 
preference  expreffed  by  the  black  Sovereigns  of  Africa,  and  of  fouthern  A- 
fia-  Thomas  Rowe,  AmbalTador  from  England  at  the  Court  of  the  Mogul 
Sdim  Scha,  relates,  that  a  very  cordial  reception  was  given,  by  this  power- 
ful Monarch,  to  certain  Portuguefe  Jefuits,  who  had  come  as  miflionaries 
into  his  dominions,  with  a  view  to  obtain,  through  their  means,  forae 
women  of  th«ir  country  to  recruit  his  feraglio.  He  began  with  conferring 
on  them  fingular  privileges  ;  had  apartments  provided  for  them  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  his  palace,  and  admitted  them  to  his  mod  intimate  familiarity  : 
Biit  perceiving  that  thofe  good  fathers  difcovercd  no  great  inclination  to 
gratify  his  defires,  he  praftifed  a  very  ingenious  artifice  to  draw  them  into 
compliance.  He  expreffed  an  extreme  partiality  to  the  Chriftian  Relig- 
ion;  and  pretending  that  he  was  reftrained,  merely  by  reafons  of  State, 
from  openly  embracing  it,  he  gave  ftrift  orders  to  two  of  his  nephews  to 
attend  punftually  on  the  catechetical  inftruftions  of  the  mifiTionarics. 
When  the  young  men  had  acquired  a  competent  degree  of  knowledge,  he 
enjoined  them  to  get  thcmfelves  baptized,  and,  this  being  complied  with, 
he  thus  addreffed  them  :  '*  It  is  now  no  longer  in  your  power  to  marry 
««  pagan  women,  and  of  this  country  ;  for  you  have  made  profeffion  of 
•«  Chriftianity.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  fathers,  who  baptized  you,  to  pro  • 
"  cure  you  wives.  Tell  them  they  muft  fend  to  Portugal  for  women  to 
**  be  your  brides."  The  young  profclytes  did  not  fail  to  make  this  de- 
mand on  the  good  fathers;  who,  fufpefting  that  the  Mogul's  real  intention, 
in  marrying  his  nephews  to  Portuguefe  wives,  was  to  procure  a  fupply  of 
white  women  for  his  fcraglio,  refufcd  to  engage  in  this  negociation.  Their 
rcfufal  highly  incenfed  Selim  Scha,  and  expofed  them  to  much  perfecution  : 
He  immediately  commanded  his  nephews  to  renounce  Chriftianity.  (Me- 
ftieirs  of  Thomas  Rowe,  Thevenofs  ColU8ion.) 

The  black  colour  of  the  (kin  is,  as  we  fhall  prefcntly  fee,  a  bleflingfrom 
Heaven  to  the  Nations  of  the  South,  becaufc  it  abforbs  the  reflojces  of  the 
burning  Sun  under  which  they  live.  But  the  men  of  thoTe  Nations  do  not 
the  Icfs,  on  that  account,  confider  white  women  as  more  beautiful  than  the 
black,  for  the  fame  reafon  that  they  think  the  dav  more  beautiful  than  the 
lijght,  bcraufe  the  harmonics  of  colours  and  of  lights  render  themfelves 
perceptible  in  the  complexion  of  the  whites,  whereas  they  almoft  entirely 
difappcar  in  that  of  the  blacks,  who  can  pretend  to  no  competition  with 
ihc  others,  in  point  of  beauty,  except  as  to  form  and  ftaturc. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  99 

Earth,  there  Is  nothing  fo  beautiful  as  a  handfume  man, 
«or  fo  fhocking  -as  a  very  ugly  one. 

This  farther  fuggefts  a  reafon  why  it  will  be  forever 
impoflible  for  art  to  produce  a  perfeft  imitation  of  the 
human  figure,  from  the  difficulty  of  uniting  in  it  all  the 
harmonies,  and  from  the  ftill  greater  difficulty  of  effeft- 
ing  a  complete  combination'  of  thofe  which  are  of  a  dif- 
ferent nature.  For  example,  the  Painter  may  fueceed 
tolerably  in  imitating  the  colours  of  the  face,  and  the 
Sculptor  in  expreffing  its  forms.  But  were  an  attempt 
made  to  unite  the  harmony  of  colours  and  of  forms  in  a 
fingle  bull,  fuch  a  produ6iion  will  be  very  inferior  to  a 
mere  pifture,  or  to  a  mere  piece  of  fculpture,  becaufe  it 
will  combine  particular  diffonances  of  colours  and  of 
forms,  befides  their  general  diffonance,  which  is  ftill  more 
marked.  If  to  thefe  it  were  farther  attempted  to  add  the 
harmony  of  movements,  as  in  the  cafe  of  an  automaton, 
this  would  aggravate  the  incongruity.  Were  art  to  con- 
tinue its  effort,  and  try  to  beftow  the  gift  of  fpeech  like- 
wife,  this  muft  produce  a  fourth  diffonance,  which  would 
be  abfolutely  hideous  ;  for  here  the  intelleftual  fyftem 
would  clafli  frightfully  with  the  phyfical  fyftem.  It  is, 
accordingly,  matter  of  no  furprife  to  me,  that  St.  Thomas 
Aquinas  was  fo  ffiockcd  at  the  fpeaking  head,  in  con- 
ftrufting  which,  his  mafter,  Albert  the  Great,  had  employ- 
ed fo  many  years,  that  under  the  influence  of  horror,  he 
inftantly  broke  it  to  ftiivers,  It  muft  have  produced  on 
him  the  fame  impreffion  which  he  would  have  felt,  had 
he  heard  an  articulate  voice   iffuing  out  of  a  dead  man's 


The  proportions  of  the  human  figure,  having  been  taken,  as  we  have 
juft  feen,  from  the  moft  beautiful  forms  of  Nature,  are  become,  in  their 
turn,  models  of  beauty  for  Man.  If  we  attend  to  this,  we  fliall  find,  that 
the  forms  which  pleafe  us  tnoft  in  works  of  art,  as  thofe  of  antique  vafcs, 
and  the  relations  of  height  and  breadth  in  moHumeots  have  been  taken 
from  the  human  figure.  It  is  well  known  that  the  Ionic  column,  with  its 
capital  and  its  flutings,  was  imitated  after  the  fliapc,  the  head  drefs,  andi. 
ihe  drapery  of  the  GreciaH  young  women. 


*oo  A  VINDICATION  of 

mouth.  Such  labours,  in  general,  do  the  Artifl  mucH 
honour  ;  but  they  demonllrate  the  wcakncfs  of  art,  which 
falls  below  Nature  juft  in  proportion  as  it  aims  at  uniting 
more  of  her  harmonies.  Inftead  of  blending  them,  as 
Nature  herfelf  does,  art  can  only  place  them  in  oppofition. 

All  this  proves  the  truth  of  the  principle  which  we 
have  laid  down,  namely,  that  harmony  refults  from  the 
union  of  two  contraries,  and  difcord  from  their  coUifion  : 
And  the  more  agreeable  that  the  harmonies  of  an  obje6l 
are,  the  more  difgufting  are  its  difcordances.  This  is  the 
real  origin  of  pleafure  and  of  diflike,  in  phyfics  as  in  mor- 
als, and  the  reafon  why  the  fame  objeft  fo  frequently  ex- 
cites afFeftion  and  averfion. 

A  great  variety  of  very  interefting  reflexions  remain  to 
be  made  on  the  human  figure,  efpecially  by  connefting 
with  it  the  moral  fenfations,  which  alone  give  expreflion 
to  the  features.  We  (hall  introduce  fome  of  thefe  in  the 
fequel  of  this  Work,  when  we  come  to  fpeak  of  fenti- 
ment.  Be  it  as  it  may,  the  phyfical  beauty  of  Man  is  fo 
Ilriking,  in  the  eyes  even  of  the  animal  creation,  that  to 
it,  principally,  mull  be  afcribed  the  empire  which  he  ex- 
crcifes  over  them,  in  every  part  of  the  Earth.  The  fee- 
ble flee  for  refuge  under  his  proteftion,  and  the  moll 
powerful  tremble  at  fight  of  him.  Mathiola  relates,  that 
the  lark  will  fave  herfelf  amidfl  troops  of  men,  when  fhe 
perceives  the  bird  of  prey  hovering  over  her.  The  reali- 
ty of  this  infl:incl  was  confirmed  to  me  by  an  officer,  who 
was  once  an  eye  witnefs  of  one,  in  fuch  circumllances, 
fleeing  for  fafety  among  a  very  diftinguiflied  fquadron  of 
cavalry,  in  which  he  then  ferved  ;  but  the  trooper  whofe 
particular  protecliqn  flie  fought,  trampled  her  to  death 
under  his  horfe's  feet  ;  a  moll  barbarous  aftion,  which 
drew  on  him,  and  juftly,  the  indignation  of  every  good 
man  in  the  corps. 

I  myfelf  have  feen  a  flag,  when  run  down  by  the 
hounds,  appeal,  with  fobs,  for  relief,  to  the  compafTion 
©f  ^crfons  accidentally  pafling  that  way.     Pliny  relates  a 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  lo^ 

^milar  faft,  and  it  is  confiftent  with  my  own  experience^ 
yfhen  I  was  in  the  Ifle  of  France,  which  1  have  de^ 
tailed  in  the  journal  of  my  voyage  to  that  Illand.  I  have 
feen,  in  the  farm  yards,  the  India  hens,  under  the  impulfe 
of  love,  go  and  throw  themfelves  chuckling  at  the  feet  af 
the  country  people.  If  we  meet  lefs  frequently  with  in- 
ftances  of  the  effect  of  animal  confidence  in  Man,  it  is  be- 
caufe  of  the  noife  of  our  fowling  pieces,  fearing  them  in- 
cefTantly,  and  of  the  continual  other  perfecutions  which 
they  are  doomed  to  undergo. 

It  is  well  known  with  what  familiarity  the  monkeys, 
and  fowls  of  all  kinds,  approach  travellers  in  the  forefls 
of  India.*  I  have  feen  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  in 
Cape  town  itfelf,  the  fhores  of  the  Sea  fwarming  with  wa- 
ter fowls,  which  perched  confidently  on  the  fhallops,  and 
a  large  wild  pelican  playing  clofe  by  the  cuftom  houfe, 
with  a  great  dog,  whofe  head  fhe  took  into  her  enormous 
beak.  This  fpeftacle  conveyed  to  me,  from  the  moment 
of  my  arrival,  a  moft  powerful  imprefTion  in  favour  of  the 
happinefs  of  that  country,  and  of  the  humanity  of  its  in- 
habitants :  Nor  did  my  conjeQure  deceive  me. 

But  dangerous  animals,  on  the  contrary,  are  feized 
with  terror  at  the  fight  of  Man,  unlefs  they  be  driven 
from  their  natural  bias  by  fome  prefiing  neceflTity.  Ai% 
elephant  will  fuffer  himfelf  to  be  led  about,  in  Afia,  by 
a  little  child.  The  African  lion  retires,  growling,  from 
the  cabin  of  the  Hottentot ;  furrenders  up  to  him  the  pof- 
feflions  of  his  anceftors,  and  feeks  for  himfelf  a  kingdom 
far  remote,  in  forefls,  and  among  rocks,  untrodden  by  the 
foot  of  Man.  The  immenfe  whale,  amidft  his  native  ele- 
ment, trembles,  and  flees  away  before  the  puny  bark  of  the 
Laplander.  And  thus,  to  this  day,  is  executed  that  all 
potent  Law,  which  fecured  empire  to  Man,  though  funk 
into  guilt  and  v/retchednefs  :  **  And  the  feaj-  of  you,  and 
*•*  the  dread  of  you,  fliall  be  upon  every  bcjill  of  the  G^rth, 

•  See  BirnUr  and  Mar.d/j!u. 


10*  A  VINDICATION  or 

**  and  upon  every  fov/1  of  the  air  ;  upon  all  that  movetk 
"  upon  the  earth,  and  upon  all  the  fifhes  of  the  fea  ;  into 
**  vour  hand  are  they  delivered."^" 

It  is  fingulariy  remarkable,  that,  through  the  whole  ex- 
tent of  Nature,  there  is  no  animal  whatever,  nor  plant, 
nor  fofTil,  nor  even  globe,  but  what  has  its  confonance 
^nd  its  contraft  out  of  itfelf,  Man  excepted.  No  one  vif- 
ible  being  enters  into  fociety  with  him,  but  either  as  his 
fervant  or  as  his  flave. 

We  muft,  undoubtedly,  reckon,  among  the  human  pro- 
portions, that  Law  fo  univerfal,  and  fo  wonderful,  which 
produces  males  and  females  in  equal  numbers.  Did 
chance  prefide  over  the  generation  of  the  human  race,  as 
over  our  alliances,  we  fhould  one  year  have  an  unmixed 
crop  of  male  children,  and  another,  a  race  entirely  female. 
Some  nations  would  confift  v/holly  of  men,  and  others, 
wholly  of  women  ;  but  all  over  the  Globe,  the  two  f(txes 
are  born,  within  the  fame  fpaceof  time,  equal  in  number. 
A  confonance  fo  regular,  clearly  demonftrates,  that  a 
Providence  is  continually  watching  over  the  affairs  of 
Mankind,  notwithftanding  the  abfurdity  and  diforder  of 
human  inftitutions.  This  may  be  confidered  as  a  {landing 
teftimony  to  the  truth  of  our  Religion,  which,  likewife, 
limits  Man  to  one  Woman  in  marriage,  and  by  this  con- 
formity to  natural  Laws,  peculiar  to  itfelf,  feems  alone  to 
have  emanated  from  the  Author  of  Nature.  It  may 
fairly  be  concluded,  on  the  contrary,  that  a  religion,  which 
permits,  or  connives  at,  a  plurality  of  wives,  muil  be  er- 
roneous. 

Ah  !  how  little  acquainted  are  they  with  the  Laws  of 
Nature,  who,  in  the  union  of  the  two  fexes,  look  for 
nothing  farther  than  the  pleafures  of  fenfe  !  They  are  on- 
ly culling  the  flowers  of  life,  without  once  tailing  of  its 
•fruit.  The  fair  fex  !  this  is  the  phrafe  of  our  men  of 
pleafure  ;  women  are   known  to  them  under  no  othev 

•  Gcncfis,  chap.  ix.  ver.  2, 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE. 


log 


idea.  But  the  fex  Is  fair  only  to  perfons  who  have  no 
other  faculty  except  that  of  eyefight.  Befides  this  it  is, 
to  thofe  who  have  a  heart,  the  creative  fex  which,  at  the 
peril  of  life,  carries  Man,  for  nine  months,  In  the  womb  ; 
and  the  cherifliing  fex,  which  fuckles  and  tends  him  in  in- 
fancy. It  Is  the  pious  fex  which  condufts  him  to  the  al- 
tar while  he  Is  yet  a  child,  and  teaches  him  to  draw  in, 
with  the  milk  of  her  breaft,  the  love  of  a  religion  which 
the  cruel  policy  of  men  would  frequently  render  odious 
to  him.  It  Is  the  pacific  fex,  which  Iheds  not  the  blood 
of  a  fellow  creature  ;  the  fympathizing  fex,  which  minif- 
ters  to  the  fick,  and  handles  without  hurting  them. 

To  no  purpofe  does  Man  pretend  to  boaft  of  his  power 
and  his  ftrength  ;  if  his  robuft  hands  are  able  to  fubdue 
iron  and  brafs,  thofe  of  the  woman,  more  dextrous,  and 
more  ufefully  employed,  can  fpin  into  threads  the  flax  and 
the  fleeces  of  the  flieep.  The  one  encounters  gloomy- 
care  with  the  maxims  of  philofophy  ;  the  other  banlflies 
it  by  fportivenefs  and  gaiety.  The  one  oppofes  to  exter- 
nal evils  the  force  of  his  reafon  ;  the  other,  far  happier, 
eludes  them  by  the  mobility  of  her's.  If  the  man  fome- 
tlmes  confiders  It  as  his  glory  to  bid  defiance  to  danger  in 
the  field  of  battle,  the  woman  triumphs,  in  calmly  meet- 
ing dangers  more  Inevitable,  and  frequently  more  cruel, 
on  her  bed,  and  under  the  banners  of  pleafure.  Thus, 
they  have  been  created  to  fupport  together  the  ills  of  life, 
and  to  form,  by  their  union,  the  moll  powerful  of  confo- 
nances,  and  the  fweetefl  of  contrails. 

I  am  obliged,  by  the  plan  of  my  Work,  to  proceed  for- 
ward, and  to  refrain  from  purfuing  my  refle6lions  on  fub- 
jefts  fo  interefling  as  the  marriage,  and  the  beauty,  of 
Man  and  Woman.  I  mull,  however,  hazard  fome  far- 
ther obfervations,  extra6led  from  my  flore,  In  order  to  in- 
duce others  to  dive  Into  this  rich  mine,  with  the  addition- 
al value  of  novelty. 

All  Philofophers  who  have  made  Man  their  particular 
lludy,  are  agreed,  and  with  good,  reafon,  that  he  is  the 


164  A  VINDICATION  oy 

thoU  wretched  of  all  animals.  Mod  of  them  appear  t(? 
have  been  fenfible,  that  an  afTociate  was  neceflary  to  him,- 
to  relieve  his  burthen^,  and  they  have  made  his  happinefs. 
in  part,  to  coniiil  of  Iriendfliip  ;  which  is  an  evident  dem- 
Gnftration  of  human  weaknefs  and  mifery  ;  for  were! 
Man  naturally  ftrong,  he  would  ftand  in  no  need  of  either 
affociate  or  afhftance.  Elephants  and  lions  live  folitary 
in  the  forefts.  They  need  no  friends,  becaufe  Nature  has 
tnade  them  ftrong. 

It  is  very  remarkable  that,  when  the  Ancients  give  us 
a  reprefentation  of  perfe6l  friendfhip,  it  is  always  reftri6t- 
cd  to  two,  and  no  more,  whatever  may  be  the  extent  of 
human  weaknefs  ;   for  Man  is  frequently  reduced   to  the 
liecefTity  of  deriving  his   felicity  from  the  concurririg  in- 
terpofition  of   many   beings  fimilar   to  himfelf.     Several 
reafons  may  be  afiigned  for  this  reftriftion,  the  principal 
of  which  are  deducible  from  the  nature  of   the  human 
lieart,  which,  from  its  very  weaknefs,  is  capable  of  attach- 
ing itfelf  to  only  one  objeft   at  once  ;  and  which,  being 
4:ompounded  of'  oppofite  palTions,  that  maintain  a  perpet- 
ual counterpoifc,  is,  in  fome  fen fe,  both  aft ive  and  pafTive, 
and  (lands  in  need  of  loving  and  of  being  beloved,  of  com- 
forting and  of  being  comforted,  of  honouring  and  of  be- 
i«o-  honoured,  and  fo  on.    Accordingly,  all  the  friendfhips 
celebrated   in  the  hiftoric  page,  exifted  only  between  two 
fX^rfons  ;   fuch  as  thofe  of  Cajfor  and  PollUx  ;  of  Thefeus 
a»d  Pentkoiis  ;  of  Hercules  and    lolas  ;   of  Orejles  and 
Pylades  ;  of  Alexander  and  Hepke/Iion,  and  many  others. 
'  It  is  farther  to  be  remarked,  that  thofe  fmgular  friend- 
fbips  have  ever  been  alTociated  with  virtuous  and  heroic 
aftions  ;   but  whenever  the  union    comprehended    more 
perfons  than   two,  it  was   fpeedily   dilfolved  by  difcord, 
or,  if  permitted  to  fubfift  for  any  length  of  time,  became 
famous  only  for  the  mifchief  which  it  brought  on  Man- 
kind :  Such  was  that  of  the  triumvirate  among  the  Ro- 
mans.    In   cafes   when  the  alTociates,  in  fuch   alliances, 
were  ftill  more   numerous,  the  mifchief  which  they  did 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  105 

Was  always  in  proportion  to  the  greatnefs  of  the  number 
©f  which  they  confided.  Thus,  the  tyranny  of  the  De- 
cemviri at  Rom^e  exhibited  a  violence  ftill  more  cruel 
than  that  of  the  Triumviri,  for  it  fpread  deftruftion,  we 
may  venture  to  fay,  without  palTion,  and  in  cold  blood. 

There  are,  likewife,  triummillvirates,  and  decemmillvi- 
rates  :  Thefe  are  your  various  defcriptions  of  Corps. 
With  good  reafon  have  they  obtained  the  appellation  of 
Corps ;  for  they  frequently  have  a  centre  diftinft  from 
their  Country,  of  which  they  ought  only  to  be  members. 
They  have,  likewife,  views  diftincl  from  thofe  of  their 
Country,  a  diftinft  ambition,  and  diftinft  mterefrs.  They 
are,  with  relation  to  the  reft  of  the  citizens,  inconftant, 
detached,  deftitute  of  an  objeft,  and  frequently  deftitute 
alfo,  of  the  fpirit  of  patriotifm  :  That,  in  a  word,  which 
regular  troops  are  with  relation  to  light  troops.  They 
will  not  fufFer  them  to  appear  in  an  avenue  along  which 
they  themfelves  are  advancing,  and  difpoffefs  them  of  the 
pofts  which  they  may  have  occupied,  the  whole  length  of 
their  route.  How  many  revolutions  have  been  effefted 
in  Ruflia  by  the  Strelitzes  ;  in  Rome,  by  the  Pretorian 
guards ;  at  Conftantinople,  by  the  Janizaries  ;  and  elfe- 
where,  by  Corps  ftill  more  political!  Thus,  by  a  juft  re- 
a6iion  of  Providence,  the  fpirit  of  Corps  has  been  as  fatal 
to  countries,  as  the  fpirit  of  Country  has  itfelt  been  t® 
Mankind. 

If  the  heart  of  Man  admits  of  but  a  fingle  obje8:,  What 
judgment  fhall  we  form  of  our  modern  friendftiips,  em- 
br  acing,  as  they  do,  fuch  a  multiplicity  ?  Undoubtedly, 
if  a  man  has  thirty  friends,  he  can  beftow  on  each  of  them 
only  the  thirtieth  part  of  his  affeftion,  and  can  receive,  in 
return,  no  greater  proportion  of  theirs.  He  muft  of  ne- 
ceftity,  therefore,  deceive  them,  and  be  deceived  by  them  ; 
for  no  one  is  difpofed  to  be  a  friend  by  fracfions. 

But,  if  the  truth  may  be  told,  fuch  friendfhips  are 
merely  confederacies  of  ambition  ;  relations  interefted  and 
purely  political,  employed  entirely  in  praftifing  mutual 

V©L.    II.  O 


iQ6^  A  VINDICATION  or 

illufion,  in  the  view  of  aggrandizing  themfelves  at  the  e?^^ 
penfe  of  Society  ;  and  which  would  be  produftive  of  un- 
fpeakable  mifchiet,  were  they  more  clearly  united  among, 
themfelves,  and  unlefs  they  were  counterbalanced  by  op- 
pofite  confederacies.  Almoft  all  our  general  affociations, 
accordingly^  iffive  in  inteftine  wars.  On  the  other  hand, 
I  do  not  fpeak  of  the  inconveniencies  which  refult  from 
particular  unions,  rather  toa  intimate.  The  moft  celebrat- 
ed triendfliips  of  Antiquity  have  not  been,  in  this  refpeft, 
wholly  exempt  from  fufpicion,  though,  1  am  perfuaded^ 
they  were  as  virtuous  as  the  perfons  who  were  the  objefts 
of  them. 

The  Author  of  Nature  has  given  to  each  of  us,  in 
our  own  fpecies,  a  natural    friend,  completely  adapted  ta 
all   the  demands  of  human   life,    capable  of  fupplying  all. 
the  aflefliions  of  th€  heart,  and  all  the  reftlefTnefs  of  tem- 
perament.   He  fays,  from  the  beginning  of  the  World : 
*'  It  is  not  good'  that  the  man  fhould  be  alone :  1  will 
"  make  him  an  help  meet  for  him  ; — and  the  Lord  Goi> 
*'  made  Woman,  and  brought  her  unto  the  Man.*"  Wo- 
man pleafes  all  our  fenfes  by  her  form  and  by  her  graces. 
She  has,  in  her  character,  every  thing  that  can  intereft  the' 
heart  of  Man,   and  at  every  ftage  of  human  life.     She- 
merits,  by  the  long  and  painful  folicitudes  which  flie  ex- 
crcifes  over  our  infancy,  our  refpeft  as  a  mother,  and  our 
gratitude  as  a  nurfe  ;  afterward,  as  Man  advances  to  youth, 
fhe  attraHs  all  his  love  as  a  miftrefs  ;  and  in  the  maturity 
of  manhood,  all  his  tendernefs  as  a  wife,  his  confidence  as 
a  faithful  fleward,   his  proteBion,   as  being  feeble ;  and^ 
even  in  old  age,   (he  merits  bur  higheft  confideration,  as- 
the  fburce  of  pofterity,  and  our  intimacy,  as  a  friend  wha 
has  been  the  companion  of  our  good  and  bad  fortune 
through  life.   Her  gaiety,  nay,  her  very  caprices,  balance,, 
it  all  feafons,  the  gravity,  and  tjie  over  reflexive  conftancy 

*  Gcncfis,  chap.  ii.  vcr.  i%,  C2, 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  107 

of  Man,  and  acquire,  reciprocally,  a  preponderancy  over 

.liim. 

Thus,  the  defefts  of  the  one  fex,  and  the  excefs  of  the 
other,  are  an  exa6l  mutual  compenfation.    They  are  form- 
ed, if  I  may  ufe  the  expreflion,  to  be  grooved  into  each 
other,  like  the  correfponding  pieces  of  carpenters'  work, 
the  prominent  and  retreating  parts  of  which  conftitute  a 
veffel,  fit  to  launch  on  the   ftormy   ocean  of  life,  and  to 
attain  additional  ftrength  from  the  very  buffetings  of  the 
tempeft.     Had  we  not  been  informed  by  a  Sacred  Tradi- 
tion, that  Woman  was  extraQed   from  the  fide  of  Man ; 
^nd  though  this  great  truth  were  not  every  day  manifelled, 
in  the  wonderful  birth  of  the  children  of  the  two  fexes, 
in  equal  nuRib^rs,  we  fliould  be  fpeedily   inftruaed  in  it 
bv  our  wants.     Man  without  the  Woman,  and  Woman 
without  the   Man,  are   imperfea   beings,  in  the  order  of 
Nature.     But,    the  greater  contrail  there  is  in  their  char- 
afters,  the  more  complete  union  there  is  in  their  harmo- 
nies.    It  is,  as  we  have  already  briefly  hinted,  from  their 
oppofitions  in  talents,  in  t^es,  in  fortunes,  that  the  moft 
intenfe  and  the  moft  durable  affeftion  is  produced.     Mar- 
riage is,  therefore,  the  friendihip  of  Nature,  and  the  only 
real  union  which  is  not  expofed,  like  thofe  which  exift 
among  men,  to  eftrangement,  to  rivalfhip,  to  jealoufies, 
and  to  the  changes  which  time  is  effefting  in  our  inclina^ 
lions. 

But,  Wherefore  are  there  fo  few  happy  marriages  a- 
mong  us  ?  1  anfwer,  Becaufe  with  us  the  fexes  have  di- 
vefted  themfelves  each  of  its  proper  nature,  and  afTumed 
the  other.  It  is  becaufe  the  women,  with  us,  adopt  the 
manners  of  men,  from  education  ;  and  men  the  manners 
of  women,  from  habit.  The  women  have  been  defpoiied 
of  the  graces,  and  of  the  talents,  peculiar  to  their  fex,  by 
the  mafters,  the  fciences,  the  cuftoms,  the  occupations  of 
men.  There  is  no  way  left,  fave  one,  but  that  is  infallible, 
to  bring  both  back  to  Nature ;  it  is  to  infpire  them  with 
»  talle  for  Religion.     By  Religion,  I  do  not  n\ean  attach- 


io8  A  VINDICATION  of 

ment  to  ceremonies,  nor  fyflems  of  Theology  ;  but  the  re-* 
ligion  of  the  heart,  pure,  fimple,  unoftentatious ;  fuch  as 
it  is  To  beautifully  depifted  in  the  Gofpel. 

Religion  will  reflore  to  the  two  fexes,  not  only  their 
moral  character,  but  their  phyfical  beauty.  It  is  not  cli- 
mate, it  is  not  aliment,  it  is  not  bodily  exercife,  nor  all 
thefe  together,  which  form  human  beauty  ;  it  is  the  moral 
fentiment  of  virtue,  which  cannot  fubfift  independently  of 
Religion.  Aliment  arid  exercife,  no  doubt,  contribute 
greatly  to  the  magnitude  and  the  expanfion  of  the  body ; 
but  they  have  no  manner  of  influence  on  the  beauty  of 
the  face,  which  is  the  true  phyfiognomy  of  the  foul.  It 
is  by  no  means  uncommon  to  fee  perfons  tall  and  robuft 
difguflingly  ugly  ;  with  the  ftature  of  a  giant,  and  the 
face  of  a  monkey. 

Beauty  of  face  is  to  fuch  a  degree  the  expreflion  of  the 
harmonies  of  the  foul,  that,  in  every  country,  thofe  claffes 
of  citizens  who  are,  from  their  condition,  obliged  to  live 
with  others  in  a  ftate  of  conftraint,  are  fenfibly  the  home- 
liefl  of  the  fociety.  The  truth  of  this  obfervation  may  be 
afcertained,  particularly  among  the  nobleffe  of  many  of 
our  provinces,  who  live  with  each  other  in  the  perpetual 
jealoufy  of  rank,  and  with  their  neighbours  of  an  inferior 
order,  in  a  ftate  of  unremitting  hoftility,  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  their  prerogatives.  Moll  of  thofe  Nobles  pre- 
fent  a  complexion  bilious  and  parched.  They  are  mea- 
gre, fulky,  and  perceptibly  uglier  than  the  other  inhabi- 
tants of  the  fame  diftrift,  though  they  breathe  the  fame 
air,  live  on  the  fame  aliments,  and,  in  general,  enjoy  a  fu- 
perior  degree  of  fortune.  Accordingly,  they  are  far  from 
being  gentlemen  both  in  name  and  in  faft.  Nay,  there 
is  a  Nation  bordering  upon  ours,  the  fubje6ls  of  wliich  are 
aS  much  celebrated  all  over  Europe,  for  their  pride  as  for 
their  homclinefs.  All  thofe  men  are  rendered  hard  fa- 
voured from  the  fame  caufes  that  moft  of  our  children 
degenerate  in  look  ;  who,  however  amiable  in  early  life, 
Ijecome    ugly   on  going  to  college,  from  the  miferies  and 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  ,09 

jrkfomenefs  of  their  inftitutions.  1  fay  nothing  of  their 
natural  chara6ier,  which  undergoes  the  fame  revolution 
with  their  phyfiognoniy  ;  this  laft  being  always  a  confe- 
quence  of  the  other. 

The  fame  thing  docs  not  hold  good  refpefting  the  no^ 
bleffe  of  fome  other  of  our  provincial  diflrifts,  and  the 
nobility  of  other  parts  of  Europe.  Thefe,  living,  as  they 
do,  in  good  underftanding  among  themfelves,  and  with 
their  compatriots,  are,  in  general,  the  handfomell  men  of 
their  Nation,  becaufe  their  focial  and  benevolent  fpirit  is 
libt  in  a  Hate  of  incelTant  conftraint  aind  anxiety. 

To  the  fame  moral  caufes  may  be  referred  the  beauty 
of  the  features  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  phyfiognomies, 
,where  we  generally  meet  with  models  fo  exquifite,  in 
.their  ftatues  and  medallions.  They  were  beautiful,  be- 
caufe they  were  happy  ;  they  lived  in  cordial  union  with 
their  equals,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  popular  fav^our  with 
the  citizens  at  large.  Befides,  there  were  among  them  no 
melancholy,  moping,  monkifh  inftitutions,  fimilar  to 
thofe  of  our  colleges,  to  disfigure  the  whole  youth  of  a 
Nation  at  once.  The  defcendants  of  thofe  fame  Nations 
are,  at  this  day,  far  from  exhibiting  a  refemblance  to  their 
anceftors,  though  the  climate  of  their  country  is  not  in 
the  fmalleft  degree  changed. 

It  is,  farther,  to  moral  caufes  that  we  mull  refer  the 
fmgularly  dignified  phyfiognomies  of  the  great  Lords  of 
the  Court  of  Louis  XIV,  as  is  vifible  in  their  portraits. 
In  general,  perfons  ot  quality  being,  by  their  rank,  elevat- 
ed above  the  reft  of  the  Nation,  do  not  live  continually  at 
daggers  drawing  with  each  other,  and  with  the  other  fuq- 
je6ts  of  the  State,  as  is  the  cafe  of  m.ofl  of  our  fmall  coun- 
try gentlemen.  Befides,  they  are  ufually  educated  under 
the  paternal  roof,  that  is,  under  the  blefied  influence  of 
dojneftic  enjoyment,  and  tar  remote  from  foreign  jealoufy 
arid  ftrife.  But  thofe  of  the  age  of  Louis  XIV,  had  this 
diftinguifhed  advantage  over  their  pofterity,  that  they  were 
taught  to  value  themfelves   on  beneficence,  and  popular 


n«,  A  VINDICATION  of 

affability,  and  on  beftowing  their  patronage  upon  talents 
and  virtue,  wherever  they  found  them.  There  is  not,  per- 
haps, a  great  Family  of  that  period,  but  what  has  the  hon- 
our to  boaft  of  having  brought  forward,  and  raifed  into 
diftinftion,  fome  one  man  of  obfcuTe  birth,  or  of  the  infe- 
rior nobility,  who  afterwards  rendered  himfelt  illuftrious, 
by  means  of  fuch  fupport,  in  arts,  in  literature,  in  the 
church,  or  in  the  army. 

Thefe  grandees  afted  thus,  in  imitation  of  the  Sovereign, 
or,  perhaps,  from  a  remainder  of  the  fpirit  of  the  magnif- 
icence of  the  feudal  government,  which  then  expired.  Be 
this  as  it  may,  they  were  handfome,  becaufe  they  were 
contented  and  happy  ;  and  this  noble  emotion  of  foul  fo- 
rward beneficence,  has  imprelfed  on  their  phyfiognomy  a 
majeftic  charafter,  which  will  ever  dillinguifli  them  from 
the  men  of  preceding  ages,  and  ftill  more  from  that  which 
has  fucceeded. 

Obfervations  of  this  kind  are  not  an  objefl  of  curiofity 
racrelv  ;  they  are  of  much  more  importance  than  is  gen- 
erally apprehended  ;  for  it  follows,  as  a  necelTary  confe- 
quence,  that,  in  order  to  form  in  a  Nation  beautiful  chil- 
<iren,  and,  of  courfe,  handfome  men,  in  both  the  phyfical 
and  moral  fenfe  of  the  word,  it  is  not  necelTary,  accord- 
ing to  the  doftrine  of  certain  medical  men,  to  fubjeft  the 
human  fpecies  to  regular  purgations,  and  under  particular 
afpcfts  of  the  Moon.  Children  reftrifted  to  a  rigid  reg- 
imen of  this  fort,  a*s  are  moil  of  thofe  of  our  Phyficians 
v'.nd  Apothecaries,  all  prefcnt  wan  pafteboard  figures  ;  and 
when  grown  up,  pale  complexions,  and  bilious  tempera- 
ments, like  their  fathers. 

In  order  to  render  children  beautiful,  you  mufl  rcn- 
4krthem  phyhcally,  but  above  all,  morally  happy.  You 
muft  prevent  every  pofhble  occafion  of  vexation  to  them, 
not  by  kindling  m  their  breaih  dangerous  and  headftrong 
paffions,  as  in  the  cafe  of  fpoilcd  children,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  by  teaching  them  to  curb  fuch  as  they  have 
from  Nature^  and   which  fociety  is   ev^r  .exciting  into  a 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  in 

ilatc  of  fermentation  ;  and  efpecially,  by  carefully  guard- 
ing againft  the  communication  of  every  thing  unnatural, 
fuch  as  ufelefs   and  irkfome  tafks,   emulations,  rivalfhips, 

and  the  like But  we  fhall  relume  this  important   fub- 

jeft,  at  greater  length,  hereafter. 

The  uglinefs  of  a  child  is  to  be  imputed,  in  almoft  ev- 
€ry  cafe,  to  his  nurfe,  or  to  his  preceptor.  I  have  fome- 
times  obferved,  among  fo  many  claffes  of  fociety,  more 
or  lefs  disfigured  by  our  inftitutions,  fome  families  fin- 
gularly  beautiful.  On  enquiring  into  the  caufe  of  this, 
I  have  found  that  thofe  families,  though  of  the  common- 
alty, were  happier,  in  a  moral  refpeft,  than  thofe  of  other 
citizens ;  that  the  mothers  had  fuckled  their  own  chil- 
dren ;  that  the  young  people  had  learned  their  Occupa- 
tions under  the  paternal  roof  and  infpeftion  ;  that  they 
had  been  treated  with  much  tendernefs  and  indulgence ; 
that  their  parents  were  fondly  attached  to  each  other ; 
and  that  they  ail  lived  together,  notwithftanding  the  hard- 
fhips  of  their  low  condition,  in  a  Hate  of  liberty  and  cor- 
diality, which  rendered  them  good,  happy  and  fatisfied. 

I  have  thence  deduced  this  other  confequence:  That 
we  frequently  make  a  falfe  eflimate  of  the  happinefs  of 
human  life.  On  feeing  here  a  Gardener,  with  the  port  o£ 
a  Roman  Emperor;  and  there  a  great  Lord,  with  the 
mafk  of  a  flave,  I  imagined,  at  firft,  that  Nature  had  com- 
mitted a  miftake.  But  experience  demonftrates,  that  the 
great  Lord  in  queftion  is,  from  the  hour  of  his  birth  to 
that  of  his  death,  placed  in  a  feries  of  pofitions,  which  per- 
mit him  not  to  gratify  his  own  inclination  three  times  a 
year.  For  he  is  under  the  necefTity,  from  his  infancy  up- 
ward, to  do  the  will,  firft  of  his  preceptors  and  mafters ; 
in  more  advanced  life,  that  of  his  prince,  of  minifters  of 
ftate,  of  his  rivals,  nay,  frequently,  that  of  his  enemies. 
Thus,  he  finds  fetters  innumerable  in  his  very  dignities. 
Our  Gardener,  on  the  other  hand,  pafTes  his  whole  lits 
without  being  expofed  to  the  flighteft  contradiftion.  Like 
the  Centurion,  in  the  GofpeK   he   fays   to  hi^    fervanf. 


112  A  YlNDlCATlOxX  or 

Come,  and  he  cometh ;  and  to  another,  Do  this,  and  h?? 
doeth  it.  This  demon ftrates,  that  Providence  has  aiTignea 
to  our  very  paffions  a  part  widely  different  from  that 
which  fociety  prefents  to  them  ;  for,  in  cafes  innumerable, 
the  moft  unrelenting  flavery  is  impofed^  together  with  an 
accumulation  of  honours;  and,  in  the  meaneft  of  human 
conditions,  we  frequently  find  the  poffefTion  of  the  moft 
unbounded  empire. 

Befides,  perfons  who  have  been  disfigured,  by  the  cor- 
ruptive impreffion  of  vicious  education  and  habits,  haver 
it  in  their  power  to  reform  their  looks ;  and  I  fay  this^ 
principally,  for  the  fake  of  our  females,  who,  in  order  to 
gain  this  point,  apply  white  and  red,  and  patch  up  faces, 
like  thofe  of  dolls,  utterly  deftitute  of  charafter.  After 
all,  they  are  in  the  right ;  for  it  is  much  better  to  conceal 
chara6ler  altogetiier,  than  to  exhibit  that  of  the  cruel  paf- 
fions which  are  often  preying  upon  them  ;  efpecially  to 
the  eyes  of  fo  many  of  the  other  fex,  who  ftudy  chara61er, 
merely  to  take  the  advantage  of  it.  There  are  infallible 
means  in  their  power  of  acquiring  a  beauty  altogether  ir- 
refiftible.  It  is  to  be  internally  good,  gentle,  companion- 
ate, fenfible,  beneficent  and  devout.  Thefe  affeclions  of 
a  virtuous  foul  will  imprefs  on  their  features  charaftcrs 
alt@gether  celeftial,  which  will  appear  beautiful,  even  to 
the  fartheft  extremity  of  old  age. 

Nay,  I  will  venLur-e  fo  far  as  to  affirm,  that  the  harfher 
the  traits  may  be  in  homely  perfons,  who  have  fuffered 
degradation  from  a  faulty  education,  the  more  fublime  and 
imprefiive  will  be  the  contrafts  produced  in  them  by  thofc 
which  they  acquire  from  habits  of  virtue  ;  for,  when  we 
find  goodnefs  under  an  unpromifing  exterior,  .we  are  as 
agrcaably  furprifcd  as  at  finding  violets  and  primrofcs 
under  a  fhrubbejry  of  briars  and  thprns;  Such  was  the 
fenfation  infpired,  on  a  firft  introduction  to  tl^c.  crabbe*! 
looking  M.  cU  Turenne  ;  and  fuch,  'in  pur  days,  is  that 
which  we  feci  at  the  fir  if  afpeCf  of  a  .ccnamnQrtUern 
Prince,  a«  jiiltly  celebrated  for  his  goodnefs,  as.theKing. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  i,g 

iis  brother,  has  rendered  himfelf  by  his  vi6lories.  I  havd 
no  doubt,  that  the  repellihg  outfide  of  thefe  two  great  men, 
may  have  greatly  contributed  to  give  a  peculiar  promi- 
neficy  to  the  excellence  of  their  heart.  Such,  tpo,  was 
the  beauty  of  Socrates,  who,  with  the  features  of  a  profli- 
gate, delighted  every  eye,  while  he  difcourfed  of  virtue. 

But  to  no  purpefe  will  a  man  attempt  to  decorate  his 
countenance  with  the  indications  of  good  qualities,  to 
which  his  heart  is  a  flranger.  This  falfe  beauty  produces 
an  effeft  ftill  more  difgufting  than  the  moft  decided  ugli- 
nefs  ;  for  when,  attracted  by  an  apparent  goodnefs,  We  ac- 
tually find  diflibnefty  and  perfidy,  we  are  feized  with  hor^ 
ror,  as  when  we  find  a  ferpent  lurking  in  a  bed  of  flowers. 
Such  is  the  deteftable  charafter  generally  afcribed  to  cour- 
tiers. 

Moral  beamty,  then,  is  that  after  which  we  are  bound 
to  afpire,  that  its  divine  irradiations  may  be  diffufed  over 
our  features,  and  over  our  a6lions.  To  no  purpofe  will 
a  Prince  himfelf  make  his  boaft  of  high  birth,  riches,  credit, 
wit ;  the  People,  in  order  to  know  him,  muft  look  him  in 
the  face.  The  People  form  their  judgment  of  him  entire- 
ly from  the  phyfiognomy  :  It  is,  in  every  Country,  th« 
firft,  and,  frequently,  the  laft  letter  of  retommendatiort* 


OF  CONCERTS. 


Concert  is  an  order  formed  of  feveral  harmonies  ol'  va- 
ifious  kinds.  It  differs  from  Ample  order  in  this,  that  the 
laft  is,  frequently,  nothing  but  a  feries  of  harmonies  of  iht 
fame  fpecies. 

Every  particular  Work  of  Natiire  prefents,  in  different 
kinds,  harmonies,  confonances,  contrafts  ;  and  foritis  ^ 
real  concert.  This  we  fliall  more  amply  unfold  in  the 
Study  which  treats  of  plants.     It  may  henceforward  b« 

VOL.  ri.  p 


M4  A  VINDICATION  of 

coiifidered  as  a  well  founded  remark,  on  the  fubjeft  of 
thofe  harmonies,  and  of  thofe  contrafts,  that  vegetables^ 
whofe  flowers  have  the  leaft  luftre,  are  frequented  by  ani- 
mals of  the  moft  brilliant  colours;  and,  on  the  contrary, 
that  the  vegetables  which  are  moft  highly  coloured,  fervc 
as  an  afylum  to  the  dufkieft  animals.  This  is  particularly 
evident  in  countries  fituated  between  the  Tropics  ;  where 
the  trees  and  herbage,  which  have  few,  if  any,  apparent 
flowers,  lodge  and  fupport  birds,  iflfefts,  nay  monkies,  of 
the  moft  lively  colours.  It  is  in  the  plains  of  India  thai 
the  peacock  difplays  his  gaudy  plumage,  on  flirubbery 
defpoiled  of  verdure  by  the  burning  heat  of  the  Sun.  In 
the  fame  climates,  it  is,  that  the  parrot  race,  confifting  of 
fo  many  different  fpecies,  enamelled  with  a  thoufand  vari- 
ous colours,  perch  on  the  gray  boughs  of  the  palm  tree, 
and  that  clouds  of  little  paroquets,  green  as  the  emerald, 
alight  on  fields  embrowned  by  the  lengthened  heats  of 
Summer. 

In  our  temperate  regions,  on  the  contrary,  moft  of  our 
birds  are  dull  coloured,  bccaufe  moft  of  our  vegetables 
have  flowers  and  fruits  with  fliining  colours.  It  is  very  re- 
markable, that  fuch  of  our  birds  and  infefts  as  have  lively- 
colours  ufually  choofe,  for  ^their  habitation,  vegetables 
that  have  no  apparent  flowers.  Thus,  the  heath  cock 
glifters  on  the  gray  verdure  of  the  pine,  whofe  apples 
ferve  him  for  food.  The  goldfinch  builds  his  neft  in  the 
rough  fuller's  thiftle.  The  moft  beautiful  of  our  caterpil- 
lars, which  is  marbled  with  fcarlet,  is  to  be  found  on  a 
fpecies  of  the  tithymal,  that  ufually  grows  in  the  fands, 
and  amid  ft  the  quarries  of  the  foreft  of  Fontainbleau.  On 
the  contrary,  our  birds  of  dufky  hue  inhabit  ftirubbery 
with  gay  coloured  flowers.  The  black  headed  bullfinch 
builds  his  neft  in  the  white  thorn,  and  that  lovely  bird  ex- 
hibits a  farther  moft  agreeable  confonance  and  contraft  with 
the  prickly  ftirub  where  he  refides,  by  his  blood  ftained 
breaft,  and  the  fweetnefs  of  his  fong.  The  nightingale, 
with  brown  plumage,  deli^jhts  to  neftle  in  the  rofc   bufli, 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  itg 

according  ta  the  traditions  of  the  oriental  Poets,  who 
have  founded  many  a  charming  fable  on  the  loves  of  that 
melancholy  bird  for  the  rofe. 

I  could  here  exhibit  a  multitude  of  other  harmonies,  of 
a  fimilar  nature,  refpeQing  the  animals  both  of  our  own, 
and  of  foreign  countries.     1  have  coUefted  thefe  to  a  very 
conliderable  number  ;  but,  I  acknowledge,  they  are  too 
incomplete  to   admit  of  my  forming  of  them  the  entire 
concert  of  one  plant,     I  fhall,  however,  treat  the  fubjeft 
more  at  large,  under  the  article  of  vegetables.     It  will  be 
fufficient,  at  prefent,  to  produce  a  fingle  example,  which 
inconteftably  proves  the  exiftence  of  thofe  harmonic  Laws 
of  Nature  :  It.  is  this,  that  they  fubfift  even  in  places  not 
expofed  to  the  view  of  the  Sun.     We  always  find,  in  the 
cells  of  the  mole,  fragments  of  the  bulbous  root  of  the  col- 
chica,  clofe  by  the  neft  of  her  young.     Now,  let  any  one 
examine  all  the  plants  which  ufually  grow  in  our  mead- 
ows, and  he  will  find  none  which  forms   more  harmonies 
and  contrafts  with  the  black  colour  of  the  mole,  than  the 
white,  impurpled,  and  lilach  coloured  flowers  of  the  col- 
chica.     This  plant,  likewife,  furnifties  powerful  means  of 
defence  to  the  feeble  mole  againft  her  natural  enemy,  the 
dog,  who  is  continually  hunting  after  her  in  the  meadows  ; 
for  he  is  poifoned  if  he  eats  it.     For  this  reafon,  the  coi- 
chica    has   obtained   the   trivial   name  of  dogbane.     The 
mole,  then,  finds  a  fupply  of  food  for  her  neceflities,  and  a 
prote6lion  againft  her  enemies,  in  the  colchica,  as  the  bull- 
finch does  in  the  white  thorn.     Such  harmonies   are  not 
only  very  agreeable  obJe6is  of  fpeculation,    but  may  be 
turned  to  very  good  praftical  account  ;   for,    from  what 
has  juft  been  fuggefted,  it  will  follow,  that  if  you  wilh  t& 
allure  the   bullfinch  to  your  fhrubbery,  you  have  only  to 
plant   the   white   thorn   ;  and    if  you    would    clear  your 
grounds  of  the  mole,   exterminate  the  bulbs  of  the   col- 
chica. 

If  to  each  plant   are  added  its  elementary   harmonies, 
fuch  as  thofe  of  the  feafon  when  it  appears  ;  of  tlie  foil 


116  A  VINDICATION  of 

and  fituation  in  Avbich  it  vegetates  ;  the  efFe61s  of  the 
dews,  and  of  the  reflexes  of  the  light  on  its  foliage  ;  the 
movements  which  it  undergoes  from  the  aftion  of  the 
winds ;  its  contrails  and  confonances  with  other  plants, 
?md  with  the  quadrupeds,  the  birds,  and  the  infefts,  which 
are  peculiar  to  it  ;  and  you  will  perceive  a  delightful  con-, 
cert  formed  all  around,  the  harmonies  of  which  are  ftill 
unknown  to  us.  It  is  only,  however,  by  purfuing  this 
track,  that  we  fhall  be  enabled  to  obtain  a  glimpfe  of  the 
immenfe  and  magnificent  edifice  of  Nature.  I  would  earn- 
cftly  intreat  Naturalifts,  perfons  fond  of  gardening,  Paint- 
ers, nay,  Poets  likewife,  thus  to  profecute  their  ftudies, 
and  to  make  frequent  draughts  from  this  perennial  fpring 
of  tafte  and  of  delight.  They  will  behold  new  worlds 
arifing  into  view,  and,  without  removing  from  their  oWn 
Horizon,  they  will  make  difcoveries  infinitely  more  curi- 
ous than  thofe  which  are  contained  in  our  books  and  cab- 
inets, where  the  produ6lions  of  the  Univerfe  are  frittered 
away,  and  disjoined,  in  the  petty  drawers  of  our  mechani- 
cal fyflems. 

I  know  not,  at  prefent,  what  name  I  ougiit  to  give  to 
the  conformities  which  thofe  particular  concerts  have 
with  Man.  Certain  it  undoubtedly  is,  that  there  is  no 
Work  of  Nature  but  what  ftrengthens  its  particular  con- 
cert, or,  if  you  will,  its  natural  charafter,  by  the  habita- 
tion of  Man;  and  which  does  not  communicate,  in  its 
turn,  to  the  habitation  of  Man,  fome  expreflion  of  gra»- 
deur,  of  gaiety,  of  terror,  or  of  majefty.  There  is  no 
verdant  mead  but  what  is  rendered  more  cheerful  by  a 
dance  of  fhepherdeffes  and  their  fwains ;  and  no  tempeft 
but  what  acquires  additional  horror  from  the  fhipwreck 
of  a  veflel.  Nature  raiffes  the  phyfical  charafter  of  her 
Works  to  a  fublime  moral  charafter,  by  collefting  them 
around  mankind.  This  is  not  the  place  to  defcant  at  large 
on  the  new  order  of  fentiments  hereby  fuggefted.  I  fatis- 
fy  myfelf,  at  prefent,  with  obferving,   thqt  {he  not  only 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  117 

employs  particular  concerts  to  exprefs,  in  detail,  the  char- 
a6i:ers  of  her  Works;  but  when  fhe  means  to  exprefs  thefe 
fame  characters  on  the  great  fcale,  (he  combines  a  multi- 
tude of  harmonies  and  of  contrails  of  the  fame  kind,  in 
order  to  form  of  them  one  great  general  concert,  which 
has  only  a  fmgle  expreffion,  let  the  field  of  reprefentation 
be  ever  fo  extenfive. 

Thus,  for  example,  in  order  to  exprefs  the  maleficent 
charafter  of  a  venomous  plant,  fhe  combines  in  it  clafh- 
ing  oppofitions  of  the  forms  and  colours  which  are  the  in- 
dications of  that  maleficence ;  fuch  as  retreating  and  brift* 
ly  forms,  livid  colours,  dark  greens,  with  white  and  black 
fpots,  virulent  fmells....But  when  {he  means  to  charac^ 
terize  a  whole  diffrift  that  is  unwholefome,  fhe  collefts  a 
multitude  of  fimilar  diffonances.  The  air  is  loaded  with 
thick  fogs,  the  turbid  waters  exhale  only  naufeous  fmells, 
no  vegetable  thrives  on  the  putrid  foil  but  fuch  as  are 
difgufting,  the  dracunculus,  for  inftance,  the  flower  ot 
which  exhibits  the  form,  the  colour,  and  the  fmeil  of  an 
ulcer.  If  any  tree  arifes  in  the  cloudy  atmofphere,  it  is 
the  yew  only,  whofe  red  and  fmoky  trunk  has  the  appear- 
ance of  having  pafled  through  the  fire,  and  whofe  gloomy 
foliage  ferves  as  an  afylum  only  to  owls.  If  any  other 
animal  is  to  be  found  feeking  a  retreat  under  its  lurid 
fhade,  it  is  the  blood  coloured  centipede,  or  the  toad 
crawling  along  the  humid  and  rotten  ground.  By  thefe, 
or  fimilar  figns.  Nature  fearer  Man  away  from  noxious 
fituations. 

If  fhe  intends  to  give  him,  at  fea,  the  fignal  of  an  im- 
pending  tempeft  ;  as  fhe  has  oppofed,  in  ferocious  animals, 
the  fiery  glare  of  the  eyes  to  the  thicknefs  of  the  eye- 
brows ;  the  ftripes  and  fpots  with  which  they  are  marked 
to  the  yellow  colour  of  their  fkin,  and  the  flillnefs  of  their 
movements  to  the  thundering  noife  of  their  voices  ;  fhe 
collefts,  in  like  manner,  in  the  fky,  and  on  the  deep,  a 
multitude  of  clafhing  oppofitions,  wliich,  in  concert,  an- 
»Qunce   approaching    deyafi^tion.    Dark    clouds,    fwcep 


ii8  A  VINDICATION  or 

through  the  air  in  the  horrible  forms  of  dragons.  Here 
and  there  the  pale  fire  of  lightning  burfts,  from  the  gloom, 
the  noife  of  the  thunder,  with  which  their  dark  womb  is 
impregnated,  rcfounds  like  the  roaring  of  the  ccleflial  li- 
on. The  Orb  of  Day,  who  can  fcarcely  render  himfelf 
vifible  through  their  rainy  and  multiplied  veils,  emits 
Jong  radiations  of  a  wau  and  fickly  light.  The  leaden 
farface  of  the  Ocean  links  and  fwells  into  broad  white 
foaming  furges.  A  hollow  murmuring  noife  feems  to  if- 
fue  from  thofe  threatening  billows.  The  black  {hallows 
whiten  at  a  diftance,  with  horrid  founds,  from  time  to 
time,  interrupted  by  ominous  filence.  The  Sea,  which 
alternately  covers  and  reveals  them,  difplays  to  the  light 
of  day  their  cavernous  foundations.  The  Norwegian 
lom  perches  on  ooe  of  their  craggy  points,  uttering  la- 
mentable cries,  like  tliofe  of  a  drowning  man.  The  fea 
ofpray  rifes  aloft  , in  the  air,  and  not  daring  to  commit 
herfdf  to  the  impetuofity  of  the  winds,  ftruggles,  with  a 
plaintive  fcreaming  voice,  againil  the  tempefl,  which 
bends  back  her  flubborn  wings.  The  black  procellaria 
flutters  about,  grazing  the  foam  of  the  waves,  and  feeks, 
in  the  cavity  of  their  moving  valleys,  a  ftielter  from  the 
fuiy  of  the  winds.  I'  this  fmall  and  feeble  bird  happens 
to  perceive  a  fiiip  in  the  midft  of  the  Sea,  he  flees  for 
refuge  along  her  fide,  and,  as  a  reward  for  the  proteftion 
which  he  folicits,  announces  the  tempell  to  the  mariner 
before  it  overtakes  him. 

Nature  uniformly  proportions  the  figns  of  deftruftion 
to  the  magnitude  of  the  danger.  Thus,  for  ejcample,  the 
figns  of  tempeft  off  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  far  exceed 
thofe  on  our  eoafls.  The  celebrated  Vernet^  who  has  ex- 
hibited fo  many  terrifying  rep  re  fen  tat  ions  of  the  Sea,  is 
far  from  having  depifted  all  the  horrors  of  the  watery  el- 
ement. Every  ftorm  has  its  peculiar  charaftcr  in  every 
prjrticular  latitude.  Far  different  are  the  ftoritis  off  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  from  thofe  off  Gape  Horn  ;  thofe  of 
the  Bill  lie  from  thofe  of  the  Mediterranean  ;  thofe  on  the 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  '  tig 

banks  of  Newfoundland  from  thofe  on  the  coaft  of  Afri- 
ca. They  farther  differ,  according  to  the  feafon  of  the 
year,  and  even  according  to  the  hour  ot  the  day.  Thofe 
of  Summer  are  very  unlike  thofe  of  Vv^inter  ;  and  widely 
different  is  the  fpeftacle  of  an  enraged  fea,  fhining  at  noon 
day  under  the  rays  of  the  Sun,  and  that  of  the  fame  fea 
illuminated,  at  the  midnight  hour,  by  a  fingle  flafh  of 
lightning.  But  you  perceive,  in  all,  the  clafhing  oppo- 
Ctions  of  which  1  have  made  mention. 

I  have  remarked  one  thing,  in  the  tempeRs  ofF  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  which  ftrikingly  fupports  all  that 
1  have  hitherto  advanced,  refpe61ing  the  principles  of 
difcord  and  harmony  ;  amd  which  may,  perhaps,  fuggefl 
profound  and  ufeful  reflexion  to  fome  one  of  greater  a- 
bility  than!  can  pretend  to.  It  is  this.  That  Nature  fre- 
quently accompanies  the  figns  of  the  diforder  which  agi- 
tates the  Qcean,  with  agreeable  expreflions  of  harmony, 
that  ferve  only  to  redouble  the  horror  of  the  fcene. 

Thus,  for  example,  in  two  different  florms  to  which  I 
was  expofed  in  thofe  feas,  I  did  not  lee  the  face  of  Heav- 
en obfcured  by  dark  clouds,  nor  thefe  clouds  furrovved  by 
alternate  flafhes  of  lightning,  nor  a  fea  muddy  and  lead 
coloured,  as  in  the  tempefts  of  our  climates.  The  fky, 
on  the  contrary,  presented  a  fine  blue,  and  the  fea  a  beau- 
tiful azure  ;  there  were  no  other  clouds  hovering  in  the 
air,  but  fraall  aggregations  of  a  ruddy  vapor,  dark  toward 
the  centre,  and  illuminated,  about  the  extremities,  w^ith 
the  yellow  luflre  of '  burnifhed  brafs.  They  took  their 
departure  from  a  fingle  point  i.n  the  Hojizon,  and  travel- 
led acrofs  the  Heavens  with  the  rapidity  of  a  bird  flying. 
When  the  thunder  fhivered  in  pieces  our  mainmaR,  in 
the  middle  of  the  night,  it  did  not  roll ;  and  emitted  on- 
ly a  crack  refembling  that  of  a  cannon,  (hot  off  clofe  by 
us.  Two  other  thunderclaps,  which  had  preceded  this 
one,  were  exaftly  fimiilar.  This  was  in  the  month  of 
June,  which  is  midwinter  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 


tad  A  VINDICATION  ot 

I  was  caugVit  in  another  ftorni,  when  doubling  the  Cap^, 
on  my  return,  in  the  month  of  January,  which  is  mid- 
fummer  in  that  part  of  the  world.  The  ground  of  the 
Heavens  was  blue,  as  in  the  firft,  and  not  above  five  or 
fix  clouds  wer6  perceptible  above  the  Horizon  ;  but  each 
of  them,  white,  black,  cavernous,  and  of  an  enormous 
magnitude,  refembled  a  portion  of  the  Alps  fufpended  in 
the  air.  This  laft  was  much  lefs  violent  than  the  former, 
with  its  fmall  ruddy  vapours.  In  both,  the  fea  was  of  the 
fame  beautiful  azure  colour  with  the  fky  ;  and,  on  the 
curling  crefts  of  the  vaft  billows,  rufhing  like  fo  many 
cafcades,  were  formed  bright  coloured  rainbows. 

Thefe  tempcfts,  in  the  full  blaze  of  light,  are  inexpref- 
fiblv  tremendous.  The  foul  Hands  aghaft  at  fight  of  the 
indications  of  tranquillity  converted  into  figns  of  ftorm  ; 
the  unclouded  azure  in  the  Heavens,  and  the  rainbow 
playing  upon  the  waves.  The  principles  of  harmony  ap- 
peared to  be  completely  inverted.  Nature  feemed  to  have 
put  on  a  character  of  perfidioufncfs,  and  to  conceal  fury 
under  the  mafk  of  benevolence. 

The  fhallows  of  thofe  Latitudes  exhibit  fimilar  contrafls. 
John  Hugo  de  Linfchotteriy  who  faw  thofe  of  the  Jewefs, 
at  no  great  diftance,  in  the  Mofambique  channel,  and  up- 
on which  he  was  in  extreme  danger  of  making  fhipwreck, 
informs  us,  that  they  have  a  moll  hideous  afpeft,  being 
black,  white  and  green.  Thus  Nature  increafes  the  char- 
aaers  of  terror,  by  intermingling  with  them  certain  agree* 
able  exprcfiions. 

There  is  a  farther  obfervation,  of  effential  importance, 
to  be  made  in  this  place  ;  namely,  that  in  thofe  awful 
fcenes  of  danger  and  affright,  the  terrible  is  clofe  upon 
you,  and  the  agreeable  is  removed  to  an  immenfe  diftance; 
tumult  is  in  the  feas,  and  ferenity  in  the  fky.  A  prodig- 
ious extcnfion  is  thus  given  to  the  fentiment  of  diforder; 
for  there  is  no  apparent  boundary  fet  ta  tempefts  of  this 
fort.  All  depends  on  the  firft  impulfion  which  we  under- 
go.     The   fentiment  of  infinity   that    is  within   us,  an4 


DIVINE  IPR'OVIDENCE.  12  i 

which  is  ever  making  new  efforts'  to  propagate  itfelf  far- 
ther afiid  farther,  leeks  to  make  its  efcape  from  the  phyfic- 
al  evil  if  herewith  it  is  furrounded ;  biit  repelled,  in  fome 
fort,  by  the  ferenity  of  the  treacherous  Horizon,  falls  back 
upon  itfel'f,  anB  Undergoes  a-Teverer  pang,  under  the  pref- 
fure  of  prefent  painful  affeclions,  becaufe  their  fource  has 
the  appearance  of  being  invariable. 

Stich  i«  the  Giant  of  Storms',  ftationed  by  Nature  at  the 
entrance  of  the  Seas  of  India,  and  To  well  delineated  by  the 
pericil  oi  Ca?noens.  Nature,  in  our  climates,  produces 
t[|iute  contrary  efFefts,  for  during  Winter,  flie  redoubles 
our  repofe  within  doors,  by  covering  the  face  of  Heaven 
with  dark  and  rainy  clouds.  All  depends,  as  I  have  ju ft 
faid,  oh'the  firft  impuliion  which  the  foul  receives.  Lu- 
cretius is,  undoubtedly,  right  in  faving,  that  our  pleafurc 
and'feciirity,  on  fhore,  are  greatly  increafed  by  the  fight  of 
ailorm:at  fea. 

A  Painter,  accordingly,  who  wiOied  to  ftrengthen,  in  a 
pifture,  the  efFe6l  of  a  beautiful  landfcape,  and  the  felicity 
t)f  its  inhabitants,  would  oi^iy  have  to  reprefent,  in  the 
back  grotind,  a  veffel  atthe-mercy  of  the  winds,  and  of 
the  raging  deep  :  The  happiiiefs  of  the  Ihepherds  would, 
in  this  cafe,  be  powerfully  he^htened  by  contraft  with  the 
diftrefs  of  the  mariners.  But  if  it  were  his  intention,  on 
the  contrar)','  to  augment  the  horrors  of  a  tempeft,  it  would 
be  neceffai^-for  him  to  place,  in  oppofition  to  the  diftrefs 
of  the  mariners,  the  felicity  of  the  fhepherds  ;  and,  for 
this  effe6l,  the  veffel  muft  be  introduced  between  the  fpec- 
tator  and. the  landfcape.  The  firft  fentiment  depends  on 
the  firft  impulfion ;  and  the  ground  contrafting  with  the 
fcene,  is  To  far  from  being  a  deviation  from  Nature,  that 
the  leading  objfeft  is  imprefted  witli  additional  energy,  by 
being  thrown  back  upon  itfelf.  Thus,  it  is  poffible,  with 
the  fame  objefis  placed  differently,  to  produce  direftly  op- 
pofite  effe6ts; 

If  Nature,  by  introducing  certain  agreeable  harmonies 
into  fcenes  of  difcord,   redoubles  their  confufign,  fuch  as 

VGL.     II,  Q 


122  A  VIxMDlCATlON  or 

the  green  colour  of  the  rocks  of  the  Jewefs,  or  the  azurtf, 
in  the  tempefts  off  the  Cape,  fhe  frequently  throws  in  a 
difcordance,  in  concerts  the  moft  delightful,  for  the  pur- 
pofe  of  heightening  the  pleafurable  effeft.  Thus,  a  noify 
waterfall  precipitating  itfelf  into  a  tranquil  vaHey  •  or  a 
rugged  and  dufky  rock  afcending  in  the  midft  of  a  ver- 
dant plain,  enhances  the  beauty  of  a  landfcape.  Thus 
a  mole  on  a  beautiful  face  gives  it  additional  vivacity. 
Skilful  Artifts  have  fometiraes  happily  imitated  thofe 
harmonic  contrafts.  Callot,  when  he  intended  to  aggra- 
vate the  horror  of  his  infernal  fcenery,  introduced,  amidfl 
his  demons,  the  head  of  a  fine  woman  on  the  carcafs  o£ 
an  animal.  On  the  contrary,  the  moft  renowned  Grecian 
Painters,  in  order  to  render  Venus  more  interefting,  rep- 
refented  her  with  a  flight  fquint  in  her  eyes. 

Nature  employs  offenfive  contrafts  only  for  the  purpofc 
of  chafing  Man  away  from  lome  perilous  fituation.  Iji. 
all  the  reft  of  her  Works,  fhe  employs  only  harmonic 
mediums.  1  muft  not  involve  myfelf  in  the  examination 
of  their  different  concerts ;  it  is  a  fubje61;  whofe  riches  are 
inexhauftible.  All  that  could  be  expefted  from  my  fcanty 
fund  was  the  indication  of  a  few  of  their  principles.  I 
fhall  endeavour,  however,  to  trace  a  flight  fketch  of  the 
manner  in  which  fhe  harmonizes  the  common  fields  of 
our  harvefts,  thefe,  being  the  produdion  of  human  agri- 
culture, feem  abandoned  to  the  monotony  that  character- 
izes moft  of  the  Works  of  Man.  •  •  :' 

Firft  of  all,  it  is  remarkable,  that  we  here  .find  that 
charming  ftiade  of  green,  produced  by  the.  alliance  of  the 
two  primordial  oppofite  colours,  \thich  are  the  yellow 
and  the  blue.  This  harmonic  colour  decompounds  itfelt, 
in  its  turn,  by  another  metamorphofis,  toward  the  time  of 
the  harveft,  into  the  three  primordial  colours,  namely,  . 
the  yellow  of  the  ripening  corn,  the  red  of  the  wild  pop-  t 
py,  and  tlic  azure  of  the  blue  bottle.  Thefe  two  plants 
are  found  intermingled  with  the  ftanding  c<Jrn,  all  over 
Europe,  let  the  farmer  take  what  pains  he  may  in   fifting. 


DlVlNE  PROVIDENCE.  123 

l4ie  grain;  and  weeding  bis  field.  They  form,  by  their 
harmony,  a  very  rich  purple  tint,  which  rifes  admirably 
on  the  yellow  ground  of  the  cornfield. 

If  you  ftudy  thefe  two  plants  feparately,  you  will  find 
between  them  a  variety  of  particular  contrails  ;  for  the 
blue  bottle  has  narrow  and  flender  leaves  ;  but  thofe  of  the 
poppy  are  broad,  with  deep  incifions.  The  blue  bottle 
has  the  corolla  of  its  flowers  radiating,  and  of  a  delicate 
azure  ;  but  thofe  of  the  poppy  are  large  and  of  a  deep 
red.  The  blue  bottle  throws  out  divergent  ftalks  ; 
but  thofe  of  the  poppy  are  ftraight.  We  find,  be- 
fides,  among  the  corn,  the  cockle,  or  corn  rofe,  which 
rifes  to  the  height  of  the  expanded  ear,  with  handfome 
purple  flowers,  in  form  of  a  trumpet  ;  and  the  convolvu- 
lus, with  a  flefli  coloured  flower,  crawling  up  along  the 
reeds,  and  furrounding  them  with  verdure,  like  a  thyrfus. 
There  is  a  great  variety  of  other  vegetables  ufually  to  be 
found  growing  among  corn,  and  forming  contrails  the 
moft  agreeable,  moft  of  them  exhale  the  fweeteft  per- 
fumes ;  and,  when  agitated  by  the  Summer's  breeze,  you 
woiild  be  difpofed,  from  their  undulations,  to  imagine  the 
whole  a  fea  of  verdure  enamelled  with  flowers.  Add  to 
all  the  reft  a  gentle  ruftling  of  the  ears  againft  each  other, 
moft  agreeably  foothing,  which,  by  its  foft  murmuring 
found,  invites  to  fleep. 

Thefe  lovely  forefts  of  vegetable  beauty  are  not  defti- 
tute  of  inhabitants.  You  fee  buftling  about  under  their 
fliade,  the  green  coated  fcarab,  ftreaked  with  gold,  and 
the  monoceros,  of  the  colour  of  burnt  coffee.  This  lall 
infefl;  takes  delight  in  a  hillock  of  horfe  dung,  and  is  fur- 
niflied  with  a  ploughfhare  on  his  head,  with  which  he  re- 
moves the  ground  like  a  labourer.  There  are,  befides,  c^ 
variety  of  charming  contrafts  in  the  bees  and  the  butter- 
flies, which  are  attrafted  by  the  flowers  of  the  cornfield, 
and  in  the  manners  of  the  birds  which  inhabit  them.  The 
far  travelled  fwallow  is  continually  fkimming  al.ong  their 
furfaee,  undulating  like  the  waters   of  a  lake;  whereas 


124  A  VINDICATION  of 

the  ftationary  lark  towers  abave  the  them,  in  a  perpen- 
dicLilar  dire6lion,  withiin  fight  of  her  neft.  The  domeftl- 
Gated  partridge,  and  tranfitory  (j^uail,  there  find  a  fituation 
equally  favourable  to  both,  for  rearing  their  young.  The 
hare  frequently  burrows  in  their  neighbourhood,  and  qui- 
etly nibbles  the  wild  thiftle. 

Thefc  animals  have,  with  Man,  relations  of  utility,  from 
their  fruitfulnefs  and  their  furs.  It  is  remarkable,  that 
they  are  to  be  found  over  all  the  corn  diftrifts  of  Europe,, 
and  that  their  fpecies  are  varied,  according  to  all  the  va- 
riety of  human  habitation  ;  for  there  are  different  fpecies 
of  quails,  partridges,  larks,  fwallows  and  hares,  adapted 
to  the  plains,  to  the  mountains,  to  the  heaths,  to  the 
meadows,  to  the  forefts  and  to  the  rocks. 

As  to  the  corn  plant  itfelf,  it  has  relations  innumera- 
ble with  the  wants  of  Man,  and  of  his  domeftic  animals. 
It  is  neither  too  high  nor  too  low  for  his  ftature.  It  h 
eafily  handled  and  reaped.  It  furnilhes  grain  to  his  poul- 
try, bran  to  his  pigs,  forage  and  Htter  to  his  black  cattle 
and  his  horfcs.  Every  plant  that  grows  in  his  cornfield 
pofTeffes  virtues  particularly  adapted  to  the  maladies  inci- 
dent to  the  condition  of  the  labouring  man.  l^ie  poppy 
is  a  cure  for  the  pleurify  ;  it  procures  fleep  ;  it  flops 
hemorrhages  and  fpitting  of  blood.  The  blue  bottle  is  a 
diuretic;  it  is  vulnei-ary,  cordial,  and  cooling;  it  is  an  an- 
tidote to  the  flings  of  venemous  infefts,  and  a  remedy  for 
inflammation  of  the  eyes.  Thus  the  hufbandman  finds  all 
needful  pharmacy,  in  the  field  which  he  cultivates. 

The  culture  of  this  flafF  of  life  difclofes  to  him  many 
other  agreeable  concerts  with  his  fleeting  exi-flence.  The 
dire6lion  of  its  fhadow  informs  him  of  the  hour  of  the 
day  ;  from  its  progrcfTive  growth  he  learns  the  rapid  flight 
of  the  feafons  :  He  reckotis  the  flux  of  his  own  fugitive 
years,  by  the  fucceffions  of  the  guiltlefs  harvefls  which 
he  has  reaped.  He  is  haunted  with  no  apprehenfion,  like 
the  inhabitants  of  great  cities,  of  conjugal  infidelity,  or  of 
a* too  numerous  pofttrity.     His  labours  are  always  lurpafT-. 


DlvmE  PROVIDENCE.  12^ 

td  by  the  benefits  of  Nature.  When  the  Sun  gets  to  the 
{ign  of  Virgo,  he  fummons  his  kindred,  he  invites  his 
neighbours,  and  marches  at  their  head,  by  the  dawning  of 
the  day,  with  fickle  in  hand,  to  the  ripened  field.  Hi$ 
heart  exults  with  joy  as  he  binds  up  the  fwelling  fh€a\'e£, 
while  his  children  dance  around  them,  crowned  with  gar- 
lands of  blue  bottles  and  wild  poppies.  Their  harmlefs 
play  recalls  to  his  memory  the  amufements  of  his  own  ear- 
ly days,  and  of  his  virtuous  anceflors,  whom  he  hopes,  at 
length,  to  rejoin  in  a  better  and  happier  World.  The 
fight  of  his  copious  harvefl  demonftrates  to  him  that 
there  is  a  GOD  ;  and  every  return  of  that  joyous  feafon, 
bringing  to  his  recollection  the  delicious  eras  of  his  pafi 
exiftence,  infpires  him  with  gratitude  to  the  Great  Being 
who  has  united  the  tranhent  fociety  of  men,  by  an  eternal 
chain  of  bleflings. 

Ye  flowery  meadows,  ye  majellic,  murmuring  forefls, 
ye  mofTy  fountains,  ye  defert  rocks,  frequented  bv  the 
dove  alpne,  ye  enchanting  folitud©s,  which  charm  by  your 
ineffable  concerts  ;  happy  is  the  man  who  fhall  be  per- 
mitted to  unveil  your  hidden  beauties  !  but  flill  happier 
far  is  he  who  fhall  have  it  in  his  power  calmly  to  enjoy 
them  in  the  inheritance  of  his  forefathers  I 


OF  SOME  OTHER  LAWS    OF  NATURE,  HITERTO 
IMPERFECTLY  KNOVvN. 


There  are,  befides  thofe  which  have  been  mentioned, 
fome  phyfical  Laws,  not  hitherto  profoundly  invert igated, 
though  we  have  had  a  glimmering  of  them,  and  made  them 
the  frequent  fubjeft  of  converfation.  Such  is  the  Law  of 
a^traftion.  It  has  been  acknowledged  in  the  planets,  and 
in  fome  metals,  as  in  iron  and  the  loadftone,  in  gold  and 
mercury.  I  believe  attraHion  to  be  common  to  all  met- 
als, and  even  to  all  foflals   ;  but  tluit  it   afts,  in  each  oi 


126  A  VINDICATION  of 

them,  in  particular  circumftances,  which  have  not  hithert# 
been  obferved,  and  afcertained.  Each  of  the  metals,  per- 
haps, may  have  a  difpofition  to  turn  toward  different 
points  of  the  Earth,  as  magnetic  iron  points  toward  the 
North,  and  toward  places  where  there  are  mines  of  iron. 
It  would  probably  be  neceffary,  in  order  to  afcertain  this 
by  experiment,  that  each  metal  fhould  be  armed  with  its 
proper  attraftion  ;  this  takes  place,  as  I  think,  when  it  is 
united  to  its  contrary. 

How  do  we  know,  whether  a  needle  of  gold,  rubbed 
with  mercury,  might  not  have  attraftive  poles,  as  a  needle 
of  fteel  has,  when  rubbed  with  the  magnet  ?  Thus  pre- 
pared, or  in  fome  other  way  adapted  to  its  nature,  it  might 
pofTibly  indicate  the  places  which  contain  mines  of  that 
rich  metal.  Perhaps  it  might  determine  the  general  points 
of  dire8;ion  to  the  Eafl  or  to  the  Weft,  which  might  fervc 
as  an  indication  of  the  Longitudes,  more  fteadily  than  the 
variations  of  the  magnetic  needle. 

If  there  be  a  point  at  the  Pole,  on  which  the  Globe 
feems  to  re^'oive,  there  may,  poflibly,  be  one  under  the 
Equator,  from  which  its  rotatory  motion  has  commenced, 
?nd  which  may  have  determined  its  motion  of  rotation. 
It  is  very  remarkable,  for  example,  that  all  feas  are  filled 
with  univalve  fhell  fifh,  of  an  infinity  of  very  different 
fpecies,  which  all  have  their  furrounding  fpirals,  in  an  in- 
creafing  progreffion,  and  in  one  and  the  fame  direftion, 
that  is,  from  left  to  right,  like  the  motion  of  the  Globe, 
when  the  mouth  of  the  fhell  is  turned  northward,  with 
the  bafe  to  the  ground.  There  is  only  a  very  fmall  num- 
ber of  fpecies  which  may  beconfidcred  as  exceptions,  and 
which  have,  ibr  this  very  reafon,  been  denominated  unique 
(fingular,  or  extrordinary.)  The  fpirals  of  thefe  circu- 
late from  right  to  left. 

A  direction  fo  general,  and  exceptions,  fo  particular  in 
univalve  fhell  fifh,  undoubtedly  have  their  caufes  in  Na- 
ture, and  their  epochas,  in  the  unknown  ages  when  their 
g^rms  were  created.     It  is  impoffible  that  they   fhouii^ 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  lifey 

proceed  from  the  aftual  influence  of  the  Sun,  who  afts  on 
them  in  a  thoufand  different  afpefts.  Can  they  have  been 
tjiiis  direfted  in  a  conformity  to  fome  general  Current  of 
the  Ocean,  or  to  fome  unknown  attraftion  of  the  Earth, 
toward  the  North  or  the  South,  toward  the  Eafl  or  the 
Weft  ?  Thefe  relations  will  appear  ftrange,  and  perhaps 
frivolous,  to  our  men  of  Science  ;  but  every  thing  in  Na-, 
ture  is  a  feries  of  concatenation.  A  flight  obfervation 
here,  in  many  cafes,  leads  to  important  difcovery.  A 
fmall  plat€  of  iron  turning  toward  the  North,  guides  21 
whole  Navy  through  the  deferts  of  the  Ocean  ;  and  a 
reed  pf  an  unknown  fpecies,  thrown  on  the  coaft  of  the 
Azores,  fuggefted  to  Chriftopher  Columbus  the  exiftence 
uf  a  weftern  World. 

Whatever  may  be  in  this,  certain  it  is,  that  there  exifls 
a  great  number  of  thofe  particular  points  of  attra£lion, 
fcattered  over  the  Earth,  fuch  as  the  matrices  which  ren- 
ovate the  mines  of  metals,  by  attracting  to  themfelves  the 
metallic  parts  difperfed  in  the  elements.  It  is  by  means 
of  attraftive  matrices,  that  thofe  mines, are  inexhauftible, 
as  has  been  remarked  in  many  place?,  among  others,  in 
the  Ifle  of  Elba,  fituated  in  the  Mediterranean.  This  lit- 
tle ifland  is  entirely  a  mine  of  iron,  from  which  had  been 
already  extrafted,  in  the  time  of  Pliny^  an  immenfe  quan- 
tity of  that  metal,  without  its  being  perceptible,  as  he  tells 
us,  that  it  was  in  the  fmalleft  degree  diminiflied.  Metals 
have,  befides,  other  attra6lions  ;  and  if  I  might  prefume 
to  deliver  my  opinion  by  the  way,  I  confider  thefe  them- 
felves as  the  principal  matrices  of  all  foflil  bodies,  and  as 
the  ever  aftive  means  employed  by  Nature  tor  repairing 
the  mountains  and  the  rocks,  which  the  aftion  of  the  oth- 
er elements,  but,  efpeclally,  the  injudicious  labours  of 
men,  have  an  inceflant  tendency  to  impair. 

I  fhall  here  remark,  on  the  fubjecl  of  mines  of  gold, 
that  they  are  placed,  as  well  as  thofe  of  all  metals,  not  on- 
ly on  the  mofl;  elevated  part  «f  Continents,  but  in  icy 
ntountains. 


ftii  A  ViND-ICA-TrON  OF 

The  celebrated  gold  mines  of  Peru,  and  of  ChiH,  are, 
It  i»  well  krtown,  in- the  Gordeliers.  The  gold  mines,  of 
Mexico  are  fituated  irrthe  vicinity  of  Mount  St.  Martha^- 
which:  is  covered  with  fnow  ail  the  year  round.  The  riv^ 
ers  of^  Europe,  which  wafh  down  particles  of  gold  along 
their  fliores,  ilTue  from  icy  mountains*  The  Po,  in  Italy^ 
has  its  fource  in  thofe  of  Piedmont.  But  without  ^«it-^ 
ting  France,  we  reckon  ten  greater  or  ftnallef  rivers,  whioh^' 
roll  along  gold  duft;  intermingled  with  their  fands,  and' 
which  have  all  of  them  their  origin  in  mountains  of  icei 
vSuch  isthc  Riiine,  from  Strafburg  to  Philipfburg  ;  the 
Rhone,  in  the  Pais  de  Gex  ;  the  Doux,  in  Tranche  Comte, 
which  three  all  take  their  rife  in  the  icy  mountains  of 
Switzerland.  The  Cefe  and  the  Gardon  defcend  from' 
thofe  of  the  Cevcnnes.  The  Ariege,  in  the  Pais  de  Foi-x  ; 
the  Garonne,  in  the  vicinity  of  TholouCe  ;  the  Salat,  in 
the  Gounty  de  Conferans  ;  and  the  rivulets  of  Ferriet 
and  Benague^,  all  take  their  rife  in  the  icy  mountains  of 
the   Pyrennees. 

Tliis  obferv^tion  may  be  extended^  I  believe,  to  all  the 
gold  mines  in  the  World,  even  to  thofe  of  Atrica,  fu-ch^ 
of  whofe  rivers  as  wafh  down  the  greateft  quantities  of^ 
gold  dull,  the  Senegal,  for  inftance,  defcend  ffora''tll^' 
mountains  of  the  Moon.  ■    '/  ' '  • '  - 

To  this   it  may  be  objefted,   that  gold  v/as  foi-MfeHy^ 
found  in  Europe,  in  places  where  there  were  no  icy  mbtm^- 
tains ;  nay,  that  fome  has  been  picked  up   on  the   furlacci 
of  the  ground,  as  in  Brafil  ;  and  not  many  years  ago,*  that- 
there   was   found  an   ingot,  or  nwfs,  of  feveral  potirrds^ 
weight,  on  the  bank  of  a  river  in  the  diftri£^t  of-  Cin^\6^i'' 
in  New  Mexico.     But,  if  I  might  venture  to  hazard  a  cbii^  • 
jefture,  refpefting  the  origin  of  this  gold,  fcaUered  abdut^ 
on  the  furface  of  the  earth,   in   the  ancient   Continent  ot 
Europe,  and  efpecially  in  that  of  the' New  World  ;  I  be- 
lieve it  to  have  proceeded  from  the  total  effufions  ot  the 
ices  of  the   mountains,  which   took  place  at  the  time  ol 
the  Deluge;  and  that,  as  the  fpoil>  of  the  Ocean  covc4pA 


iDlXriNE  PROVIDENCE;  1^9 

Hie  weftern  parts  of  Europe,  that  thofe  of  vegetable 
earths  were  fpread  over  the  ieafterh  part  6f  Afia,  thofe  of 
minerals,  from  the  mountains,  were  forced  along  other 
countries,  where  their  fragments  were  found,  in  the  ear- 
lier ages,  in  grains,  and  even  in  larger  mafles. 

This  much  i's  certain,  that  when  Chrijlopher  "Colwnhus 
difcovered  the  Lucayb  and  Antilles  iflands,  he  found  a- 
mong  thofe  iflahders  abundance  of  gold  of  a  bafe  alloy, 
the  produce  of  the  trafEck  which  they  carried  on  with  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Continent ;  but  they  had  no  mines 
within  their  own  territdry,  notwithftahding  the  prejudice 
then  entertained,  and  under  which  many  labour  to  this 
day,  that  the  Sun  formed  this  precious  metal  in  the  earth 
of  thfe  Torrid  Zone.  For  my  own  part,  I  find,  as  I  hav6 
juft  obferved,  gold  much  more  common  in  the  vicinity  of 
icy  mountains,  whatever  their  Latitude  may  be ;  and  t 
conjeaure,  from  analogy,  that  there  muft  be  very  rich 
mines  of  it  in  the  North.  It  is  extremely  probable,  that 
the  waters  of  the  Deluge  hurled  along  confiderable  por- 
tions of  that  metal  to  the  northern  countries. 

We  read,  I  think,  in  the  Book  of  Job,  the  Arabian, 
this  remarkable  expreflion ;  "  Gold  cometh  from  the 
North."*  Certaiii  it  is,  that  the  firft  commerce  of  India 
with  Europe  was  carried  on  by  the  North,  as  has  been 
clearly  demonftrated  by  the  Baron  de  Stralenberg,  2l 
Swedifh  exile,  after  the  battle  of  Pultowa,  in  Siberia,  of 
which  he  has  given  a  very  intelligent  arid  accurate  defcrip- 
tion.  He  fays,  that  it  is  ftill  poflible  to  purfue,  by  evi- 
dent traces,  the  ti'ack  bf  the  ancient  Indians   along  the 

*  This  is  not  entirely  of  a  piece  with  our  AutKoi  's  ufual  accuracy.  It 
IS  written,  indeed,  in  the  Book  of  Job,  chap.  xxXvii.  ver.  g.  ♦'  Cold  cometU 
••  out  of  the  North  ;"  and  ver.  zz.  •'  Fair  v<eathcr  cometh  out  of  the 
**  North  :"  but  no  where  in  Scripture,  fo  far  as  I  know,  is  this  affirmed  of 
Gold.  St.  Pierre  feems  to  have  quoted  from  general  and  indiftinft  recol- 
kftion ;  happy,  no  doubt,  tO  have,  as  he  thought,  a  text  from  the  Bible  to 
fupport  his  conjeaure.  But  notwithftanding  this  defeft,  his  reafoning  is 
plaufible,  and  the  human  teftimony  which  he  adduces  refpeaable. 

VOL.    II.  R 


i^o  A  VINDICATION  of 

river  of  Petzora,  which  empties  itfelf  into  the  White  Sedi. 
On  its  banks,  in  various  places,  ace  found  many  of  their 
tombs,  which  contain,  fome  of  them,  manufcripts  on  filk 
fluffs,  in  the  language  of  Thibet ;  and  there  are  percepti- 
ble, on  the  rocks  along  its  fhores,  charafters  which  they 
have  traced  upon  them,  in  a  red  which  cannot  be  effaced. 
From  this  river  they  forced  their  way  through  the  lakes, 
by  means  of  leathern  boats,  to  the  Baltic  ;  or  coafled  a- 
long  the  northern  and  weftern  lliores  of  Europe. 

This  track  was  known  to  the  Indians,  even  from  the 
time  of  the  ancient  Romans;  for  Cornelius  Nepos  relates, 
that  a  King  of  the  Suevi  made  a  prefent  to  Metellus  Celer 
of  two  Indians,  who  had  been  thrown,  by  ilrefs  of  weather, 
with  their  leathern  canoe,  on  the  coafts  adjacent  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Elbe.  It  is  not  eafy  to  conceive  what  thofc 
Indians,  the  inhabitants  of  a  warm  country,  were  going 
in  queft  of,  fo  far  to  the  North.  What  ufe  could  they 
have  made,  in  India,  of  the  furs  of  Siberia  ?  It  would  ap- 
pear they  went  thither  in  fearch  of  gold,  which  might  then 
be  frequently  difcoverable  to  the  North,  at  the  furface  of 
the  earth. 

Whatever  may  be  in  this,  it  is  prefumable  that,  as 
mines  of  gold  are  placed  in  the  moft  elevated  regions  of 
the  Continent,  their  matrices  colleft,  in  the  Atmofphere, 
the  volatilized  particles  of  gold,  which  afcend  thither  with 
the  foffil  and  aquatic  emanations,  conveyed  by  the  winds 
from  every  quarter.  But  they  exercife  over  men,  attrac- 
tions ilill  much  more  powerful. 

It  would  appear  as  if  Nature,  by  burying  the  focufes 
of  this  rich  metal  under  the  fnows,  had  intended  to  fence 
it  with  ramparts  ftill  more  inacceffible  than  the  flinty  bo- 
fom  of  the  rock,  left  the  undifmayed  ardor  of  human  ava- 
rice fhould,  at  length,  deftroy  them  entirely.  It  has  be- 
come the  moft  powerful  bond  of  fociety,  and  the  perpet- 
ual objeft  of  all  the  labours  of  a  life  fo  rapidly  hurrying 
to  a  clofc.  Alas !  Were  Nature,  at  this  day,  to  inflift 
condign  puniftiment  on  this  infatiable   thirft  in  the  Na- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  igi 

tions  of  Europe,  for  a  metal  fo  ufelefs,  as  a  real  neceffary 
t)f  human  life,  (he  has  only  to  change  the  territory  of  fome 
one  of  them  into  gold.  Every  other  Nation  would  in- 
flantly  flock  thither,  and,  in  a  little  time,  exterminate  its 
wretched  inhabitants.  The  Peruvians  and  Mexicans  ha\K 
had  the  dreadful  experience  of  this. 

There  are  metals  not  fo  highly  prized,  but  much  more 
ufeful,  the  elementary  attraftions  of  which  might,  perhaps, 
procure  us  very  important  accomodations. 

The  peaks  of  the  mountains,  and  their  lengthened 
crefts,  are  filled,  as  we  have  feen,  with  iron  or  copper, 
intermingled  with  a  vitreous  body,  of  granite,  or  of  nat- 
ural cryftal,  which  attrafts  the  rains  and  the  ftormy  clouds, 
like  fo  many  real  eleftric  needles.  There  is  not  a  feaman 
but  what  has  feen,  a  thoufand  times,  thofe  peaks,  and 
thofe  crefts,  covered  with  a  cloudy  cap,  gathered  round 
and  round,  and  concealing  them  entirely  from  view,  with- 
out once  fufpefting  the  caufe  of  this  appearance.  Our 
Philofophers,  on  the  other  hand,  deducing  their  conclu- 
fions  merely  from  the  infpeftion  of  charts,  have  taken 
thofe  rocky  protuberances  for  the  wrecks  of  a  primitive 
earth,  without  giving  themfelves  any  trouble  about  their 
efFeas. 

They  ought  to  have  obferved,  that  thofe  metallic  pyra- 
mids and  crefts,  as  well  as  moft  mines  of  iron  and  copper, 
are  always  to  be  found  in  elevated  fituations,  and  at  the 
fource  of  all  rivers,  of  which  they  are  the  primitive  caufes, 
by  means  of  their  attraftions.  Their  general  inattention 
to  this  fubjeft  is  thus  only  to  be  accounted  for;  feamen 
obferve,  and  do  not  reafon  ;  and  the  learned  reafon,  but 
do  not  obferve.  Undoubtedly,  had  the  experience  of  the 
one  been  united  to  the  fagacity  of  the  other,  prodigies  oi 
difcovery  might  have  been  expelled. 

I  am  perfuaded  that,  in  imitation  of  Nature,  it  might  b 
poffible  for  us  to  acquire  the  art  of  forming,  by  me        ^ 
ofeleftric  ftones,  artificial  fountains,  which  fhould  a*  _^ 

the  rainy  clouds  in  parched  and  dry  fituations,  as 


\2^^ 


A  VINDICATION  OP 


and  rods  of  iron  attraft  thunder  clouds.  It  is  true,  thjM 
Prince§  muft  be  at  the  expenfe  of  fuch  coftly  and  ufeful 
experirnents  ;  but  it  is  the  way  for  them  tp  immortalize 
their  memory.  The  Pharaohs,  who  built  the  pyramids 
of  Egypt,  would  r;ot  have  drawn  upon  themfelves  the 
curfes  of  their  fubjefts,  as  Pliny  afTures  us  they  did,  for 
their  enormous  and  ufelefs  labours,  had  they  reared,  amid  ft 
the  fands  of  Upper  Egypt,  an  eleftrical  pyramid,  which 
might  there  have  formed  an  artificial  fountain.  The  Arab 
who  fhould  refort  thither,  at  this  day,  to  quench  his  thirft, 
^vould  ftili  pronounce  benec^iftions  on  names  which,  if  wq 
may  believe  the  great  Natural  Hiftorian,  had  already  funk 
into  oblivion,  and  ceafed  to  be  mentioned,  in  his  time. 

For  my  own  part,  I  think  that  feveral  metals  might  be 
proper  for  producing  fimilar  effefts.  An  officer  of  high 
rank,  in  the  fervice  of  the  King  of  Pruffia,  informed  me 
that,  having  remarked  vapours  to  be  attrafted  by  lead,  he 
had  employed  its  attra6lion  for  drying  the  atmofphere  of 
a  powder  magazine.  This  magazine  was  conftru6ted  under 
ground,  in  the  throat  of  a  baftion,  but  had  been  rendered 
of  no  ufe  whatever,  from  its  humidity.  He  ordered  tp 
line  with  a  coat  of  lead  the  concave  ceiling  of  the  arch, 
which  was  before  planked  over,  where  the  gunpowder 
was  depofited  in  barrels  :  The  vapours  pf  the  vault  col- 
lefted  in  great  drops,  on  the  leaden  roof,  run  off  in  ftream* 
lets  along  the  fides,  and  left  the  gunpowder  barrels  per- 
feftly  dry. 

It  is  to  be  prefumed  that  every  metal,  and  every  fofljl, 
has  its  peculiar  repulfion  as  well  as  its  attraftion  ;  for 
thefe  two  Laws  always  go  hand  in  hand.  Contraries  feek, 
out  each  other. 

There  are,  farther,  a  multitude  of  other  harmonic  Laws, 
as  yet  undifcovercd  ;  fuch  are  the  proportions  of  magni- 
tudes, and  of  the  durations  of  exiflence,  in  beings  vegeta- 
i^ive  and  fenfible,  which  differ  exceedingly,  though  theit 
nutriment  and  climates  may  be  the  fame.  Man,  while  ytX 
2i  yo\uh,  fees  the  dog,  his   companion   and  contemporar)^^ 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  133 

die  of  old  age  ;  and  alfo  the  flieep,  which  he  fondled  when 
9  lamb.  Though  the  former  lived  at  his  own  table,  and 
the  other  on  the  herbage  of  his  meadow,  neither  the  fidel- 
ity of  the  one,  nor  the  temperance  of  the  other,  was  able 
to  prolong  their  days ;  whereas  animals  which  live  only 
on  carrion  and  garbage,  live  for  ages,  as  the  crow.  It  is 
impoflible  to  guide  ourfelves  in  profecuting  fuch  refearch- 
<es,  any  other  way  than  by  following  the  fpirit  of  conform- 
ity, which  is  the  bafis  of  our  own  reafon,  as  it  is  that  of 
the  reafon  of  Nature. 

By  confulting  this,  we  fhall  find,  that  if  fuch  and  fuch 
a  carnivorous  animal  is  long  lived,  as  the  crow  for  in- 
ilance,  it  is  becaufe  his  fervices  and  his  experience  are 
long  neceffary  for  purifying  the  earth,  in  places  whofe  im- 
purities are  inceffantly  renewing,  and  which  are  frequently 
at  great  diftances  from  each  other.  If,  on  the  contrary, 
an  innocent  animal  lives  but  a  little  while,  it  is  becaufe 
his  flefh  and  his  fkin  are  necelTary  to  Man.  If  the  domef- 
tic  dog,  by  his  death,  frequently  dififufes  forrow  over  the 
children  of  the  family,  whofe  intimate  friend  and  fellow 
boarder  he  was,  Nature,  undoubtedly,  intended  to  give 
them,  in  the  lofs  of  an  animal  fo  worthy  of  the  afFe6lions 
and  the  regret  of  the  heart  of  Man,  the  firft  experience 
of  the  privations  with  which  human  life  is  to  be  exercifed. 

The  duration  of  an  animal's  life  is  fometimes  propor- 
tioned to  the  duration  of  the  vegetable  on  which  it  feeds. 
A  multitude  of  caterpillars  are  born,  and  die  with  the 
leaves  by  which  their  tranfitory  exiftence  is  fupported. 
There  are  infers  whofe  being  is  limited  to  five  hours  ; 
fuch  is  the  ephemera.  This  fpecies  of  fly,  about  half  as 
large  as  the  tip  of  the  little  finger,  is  produced  from  a 
fluviatic  grub,  which  is  found  particularly  at  the  mouths 
of  rivers,  clofe  by  the  water's  edge,  in  the  mud,  into 
which  it  digs  in  queft  of  fubfiftence.  This  grub  lives 
three  years,  and  at  the  termination  of  that  period,  about 
Midfummer  day,  it  is  transformed,  almoft  inftantaneoufly, 
into  a  fly,   whicb  comes  intp   the  world  at  fix  o'clock  \a 


134  A  VINDICATION  Of 

the  evening,  and  dies  about  eleven  at  night.  No  longer 
fpace  of  time  is  necelTary  for  copulation,  and  for  depolit- 
ing  the  eggs  on  the  mud  which  the  water  has  deferted. 

It  is  very  remarkable,  that  this  infeft  copulates,  and 
lays  her  eggs,  precifely  at  the  time  of  the  year  when  the 
tides  are  at  the  loweft,  when  the  rivers  difcover,  at  the 
place  of  their  difcharge,  the  greateft  part  of  their  channel 
dry.  Wings  are  then  furnifhed,  to  enable  her  to  go  and 
depofit  her  eggs  in  places  which  the  waters  forfake,  and 
to  extend,  in  the  capacity  of  a  fly,  the  domain  of  her  pof- 
terity,  at  the  time  when,  as  a  worm,  her  territory  is  moft 
contracted.  1  have  likewife  remarked,  in  the  microfcopic 
drawing  and  diffeftions  given  of  this  infeft  by  the  ingeni- 
ous Thevenot^  in  the  laft  parts  of  his  colleftion,  that  in 
her  fly  fl;ate,  flie  has  neither  interior  nor  exterior  organs 
of  nutrition.  They  would  have  been  entirely  ufelefs  to  a 
life  of  fuch  tranfient  duration. 

Nature  has  made  nothing  in  vain.  It  is  not  credible 
that  fhe  fhould  have  created  momentary  lives,  and  beings 
infinitely  minute,  to  fill  up  imaginary  chains  of  exiftence. 
The  Philofophers  who  afcribe  to  her  thefe  pretended  plans 
of  univerfality,  which  are  deftitute  of  every  fhadow  of 
proof,  and  which  make  her  defcend  into  the  infinitely 
fmall,  for  purpofes  equally  frivolous,  would  reprefent  her 
as  a8ing  fomewhat  like  a  mother,  who  gives,  as  toys  to 
amufe  her  children,  tiny  coaches,  and  minute  articles  of 
houfehold  furniture,  of  no  ufe  in  the  world,  but  which 
arc  imitations  ofdomefliic  utenfils. 

The  averfions  and  the  inftinfts  of  animals  emanate  from 
Laws  of  a  fuperior  order,  which  we  fhall  never  be  able  to 
penetrate  iiiio  in  this  world  ;  but,  fuppofmg  thofe  intimate 
conformities  to  elude  our  refearches,  they  muil  be  refer- 
red, like  every  other,  to  the  general  conformity  of  beings, 
and  cfpecially  to  that  of  Man.  There  is  nothing  fo  lu- 
minous in  the  ftudy  of  Nature,  as  to  refer  every  thing 
that  exifts  to  the  goodnefs  of  GOD,  and  to  the  demands, 
of  humaiiitv.     This  method  of  viewing  objects  not  only 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  t^ 

'<iifcovers  to  us  a  multitude  of  unknown  laws,  but  it  fets, 
bounds  to  thofe  which  we  do  know,  and  which  we  be- 
lieve to  be  uniyerfal. 

If  Nature,  for  example,  were  governed  by  the  Laws  of 
attraftion  only,  according  to  the  fuppofition  of  thofe  who 
have  made  it  the  bafis  of  fo  many  fyftems,  every  thing  in 
it  would  be  in  a  ftate  of  reft.  Bodies,  tending  toward  one 
common  cen.Uej  would  there  accumulate,  and  arrange 
themfelves  round  it,  in  the  ratio  of  their  gravity.  The 
fubftances  which  compofe  the  Globe,  would  be  fo  much 
heavier  as  they  approached  nearer  to  the  centre,  and  thofe 
which  are  at  the  furface,  would  all  be  reduced  to  a  level. 
The  bafon  of  the  Seas  would  be  choked  with  the  wrecks 
of  the  Land  ;  and  this  magnificent  architefture,  formed  of 
harmonies  fo  various,  would  foon  become  an  aquatic 
Globe  entirely.  All  bodies  hurled  downward  by  one  com- 
mon precipitation,  would  be  condemned  to  an  everlafting 
immobility. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  the  Law  of  proje6lion,  which  is 
employed  for  explaining  the  motions  of  the  heavenly  bo- 
dies, on  the  fuppofition  that  they  have  a  tendency  to  fly 
off  in  the  tangent  of  the  curve  which  they  defcribe  ;  if,  I 
fay,  this  Law  predominated,  all  bodies,  not  aftually  adhe- 
rent to  the  Earth,  would  be  hurled  from  it,  like  Hones 
from  a  fling  :  Our  Globe  itfelf,  fubje61:ed  to  this  Law, 
would  fly  off  from  the  Sun  never  to  return.  It  would 
fometimes  traverfe,  in  its  unbounded  career,  the  fpaces  of 
immenfity,  where  no  fl:ar  would  be  perceptible  during  the 
courfe  of  many  ages  ;  fometimes,  fwinging  through  regions 
where  chance  might  have  collefted  the  matrices  of  Crea- 
tion, it  might  pafs  along  amidft  the  elementary  parts  of 
Suns,  aggregated  by  the  central  Laws  of  attraftion,  or 
fcattered  about  in  fparks  and  in  rays,  by  thofe  of  projec- 
tion. 

But,  on  the  fuppofition  that  thefe  two  contrary  forces 
were  combined  happily  enough  in  favour  of  the  Globe, 
t«  fix  it,  with  its  vortex,  in  a  corner  of  the  firmament, 


136  A  VINDICATION  or 

where  thefe  forces  fhould  aft  without  dellroying  thcm- 
felves,  it  would  prefent  its  Equator  to  the  Sun  with  a$ 
much  regularity  as  it  defcribes  its  anhual  courfe  tound 
him.  From  thofe  two  conftant  motions  never  could  be 
produced  that  other  motion  fo  varied,  by  which  it  daily 
inclines  one  of  its  Poles  toward  the  Sun,  till  its  axis  has 
formed,  on  the  plane  of  its  annual  circle,  an  angle  of  twen- 
ty three  degrees  and  an  half ;  then  that  other  retrograde 
motion,  by  which  it  prefents  to  him,  with  equal  regularity, 
the  oppofite  Pole.  Far  from  prefenting  to  him  alternately 
its  Poles,  in  order  that  his  fertilizing  heat  may,  by  turns, 
melt  their  ices,  it  would  retain  them  buried  in  eternal 
night  and  Winter,  with  a  part  of  the  temperate  Zones, 
whereas  the  reft  of  its  circumference  would  be  burnt  up 
by  the  too  conftant  fires  of  the  Tropics. 

But  if  we  fuppofe,  together  with  thofe  conftant  Laws 
of  attraftion  and  projeftion,  a  third  variable  Law,  which 
gives  to  the  Earth  the  movement  that  produces  the  fea- 
fons,  and  a  fourth,  which  gives  it  the  diurnal  motidn  of 
rotation  round  itfelf ;  and  that  no  one  of  thefe  Laws,  fo 
oppofite,  fhould  ever  furpafs  the  others,  and,  at  laft,  de- 
termine it  to  obey  but  one  fmgle  impulfion  ;  it  would  be 
impoflible  to  affirm,  that  they  had  determined  the  forms 
and  movements  of  the  bodies  which  are  on  its  furface. 
Firft,  the  force  of  projeftion,  or  centrifugal,  would  not 
have  left  upon  it  any  one  detached  body.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  force  of  attraftion,  or  gravity,  would  not  have 
permitted  the  mountains  to  rife,  and  ftill  lefs  the  metals, 
which  are  the  heavieft  part  of  them,  to  be  placed  at  their 
fummits,  where  they  are  ufually  found. 

If  we  fuppofe  that  thofe-  Laws  are  the  ultimatum  of 
chance,  and  that  they  are  fo  combined,  as  to  form,  among 
themfelvCvS,  but  one  fmgle  Law ;  for  the  fame  reafon  that 
they  make  the  Earth  move  round  the  Sun,  and  the  Moon 
round  the  Earth,  they  ought  to  a6l  in  the  fame  manner  on 
the  particular  bodies  which  are  at  the  furface  of  the 
Globe.     We  ought  to  fee  the  rocks  detached,  the  fruit$ 


DiVmE  PROVIDENCE.  137 

feparated  from  the  trees,  the  animais  which  are  not  pro- 
vided with  claws  turning  round  it  in  the  air^  as  we  fee  the 
|)articles  which  compofe  Saturn  s  ring  turn  round  that 
Planet. 

It  is  the  gravity,  they  repeat,  which  a6ls  only  at  the  fur- 
face  of  the  Globe,  that  hinders  bodies  to  detach  themfelves 
from  it.  But  if  it  there  abforbs  the  other  powers,  Where- 
fore, as  we  have  already  afked,  did  it  permit  the  moun- 
tains to  rife  ?  How  comes  it  that  the  centrifugal  force 
ifhould  have  been  able  to  exalt,  to  a  prodigious  height,  the 
long  ridge  of  the  Cordeliers,  while  it  has  left  immoveable 
the  volatile  fcurf  of  fnow  which  covers  them  ?  For  what 
reafon,  if  the  a6lion  of  gravity  is  ftill  univerfal,  has  it  no 
influence  on  the  foft  bodies  of  animals,  when,  fhut  up  in 
the  womb  of  the  mother,  or  in  the  tgg^  they  are  in  a  ftate 
of  fluidity  ?  All  the  numerous  progeny  of  the  Earth,  ani- 
rnals  and  vegetables,  ought  to  be  rounded  into  balls,  like 
their  mother.  The  weightieft  parts  of  their  bodies,  at  leaft, 
ought  to  be  fituated  undermoft,  efpecially  in  thofe  which 
poffefs  felf  motion  ;  on  the  contrary,  they  are  frequenly 
uppermoft,  and  fupported  by  limbs  much  lighter  than  the 
reft  of  the  animal,  as  in  the  cafe  of  the  horfe  and  the  ox. 
Sometimes  they  are  between  the  head  and  the  feet,  as  in 
the  oftrich  ;  or  at  the  extremity  of  the  body,  in  the  head, 
as  in  the  human  fpecies.  Others,  fuch  as  the  tortoife,  are 
flattened ;  others,  fuch  as  reptiles,  are  drawn  out  in  form 
of  fpindles;  all  of  thern,  in  a  word,  have  forms  infinitely 
varied. 

Vegetables  themfelves,  which  feem  entirely  fubjefted 
to  the  action  of  the  elements,  have  configurations  diverfi- 
fied  without  end.  But,  How  comes  it  that  animals  have 
in  themfelves  the  principles  of  fo  many  motions,  fo  en- 
tirely different  ?  Wherefore  has  not  gravity  nailed  them 
down  to  the  furface  of  the  Earth  ?  They  ought  to  crawl 
along  it  at  moft.  How  comes  it  to  pafs,  that  the  Laws 
which  regulate  the  courfe  of  the  Stars  ;  thofe  Laws  whofe 
influence  has,  in  modern  times,  been  made  to  extend  even 

VOL.    II.  s 


13B  A  VINDICATION  Of 

to  the  operations  of  the  human  foul,  fhould  permit  the 
birds  to  rife  into  the  air,  and  fly  as  they  pleafe  to  the 
Weil,  to  the  North,  to  the  South,  notwithflanding  the  u- 
nited  powers  of  the  attraftion,  and  of  the  projeftion  of  the 
GJobe  ? 

It  is  conformity,  adaptation  to  ufc,  which  has  regulated 
thofe  Laws,  and  which  has  generalized,  or  fufpended 
their  efFeSs,  in  fubordination  to  the  neceflities  of  fenfible 
]>eings.  Though  Nature  empla}'s  an  infinity  of  means, 
fhe  permits  Man  to  know  only  the  end  which  fhe  has  in 
view.  Her  Works  are  fubjefted  to  rapid  didolutions  ; 
but  fhe  always  fuffers  him  to  perceive  the  immortal  con- 
fiflency  of  her  plans.  It  is  on  this  flie  wiflies  to  fix  his 
heart  and  mind.  She  aims  not  at  rendering  Man  ingeni- 
ous and  proud  ;  her  objeft  is  to  render  him  good  and  hap- 
py. She  univerfally  mitigates  the  evils  which  are  necefTa- 
ry  ;  and  univerfally  multiplies  bleflings  in  many  cafes 
fuperfluous.  In  her  harmonies,  formed  of  contraries,  fhe 
has  oppofed  the  pmpire  of  death  to  that  of  life ;  but  life 
endures  for  a  whole  age,  and  death  only  an  inftant.  She 
allows  Man  long  to  enjoy  theexpanfions  of  beings,  fo  de- 
lightful to  behold  ;  but  conceals  from  him,  with  a  precau- 
tion truly  maternal,  their  tranfient  ftates  of  dilTolution. 

If  an  animal  dies  ;  if  plants  are  decompounded  in  a  mo- 
rafs,  putrid  emanations,  and  reptiles  of  a  difgufting  form, 
chafe  us  away  from  them.  An  infinite  number  of  fecon- 
dary  beings  arc  created  for  the  purpofe  of  haftening  for- 
ward the  decompofitions.  If  cavernous  mountains  and 
rocks  prefent  appearances  of  ruin  ;  owls,  birds  of  prey, 
the  ferocious  animals,  which  have  made  them  their  re- 
treat, keep  us  at  a  diftance  from  them.  Nature  drives  far 
from  us  the  fpeftacles  and  theminifters  of  deftruftion,  and 
allures  us  to  her  harmonics.  She  multiplies  them,  in  fub- 
fervicncy  to  our  neccflities,  far  beyond  the  Laws  w^hich 
Ihe  fccms  to  have  prefcribed  to  herfelf,  and  beyond  the 
meafure  which  we  had  reafon  to  expeft*  It  is  thus  that 
the  dry  and  barren  rocks  repeat,  by  their  echos,  the  mur 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  139 

muring  found  of  the  waters  and  of  the  forefts  ;  and  that 
the  plane  furfaces  of  the  waters,  which  have  neither  for- 
efls  nor  hills,  reprefent  their  colours  and  forms  bv  reflect- 
ing them. 

From  a  profufion  of  this  unbounded  benevolence  of 
Nature  it  is,  that  the  aclion  of  the  Sun  is  multiplied 
■\vherever  it  was  moft  neceffary  ;  and  is  mitigated  in  all 
the  places  where  it  would  have  been  hurtful.  Firft,  the 
Sun  is  five  or  fix  days  longer  in  our  northern  Hemifphere, 
becaufe  that  Hemifphere  contains  the  greateft  part  of  the 
Continents,  and  is  the  mioft  ijihabited.  His  difk  appears 
in  it  before  he  rifes,  and  after  he  is  fet;  which,  added  to 
its  twilights,  confiderably  increafes  the  natural  length  of 
our  days.  The  colder  that  it  is,  the  farther  does  the  re- 
fraflion  of  his  rays  extend.  This  is  the  reafon  that  it  is 
greater  in  the  morning  than  in  the  evening,  in  Winter 
than  in  Summer,  and  at  the  beginning  of  Spring  than  at 
the  beginning  of  Autumn, 

When  the  Orb  of  Day  has  left  us,  during  the  night 
feafon,  the  Moon  appears,  to  refleft  his  light  upon  us, 
■with  varieties  in  her  phafes  which  have  relations,  hitherto 
unknown,  to  a  great  number  of  fpecies  of  animals,  and  ef- 
pecially  of  fifiies,  which  travel  only  in  the  night  time,  at 
the  epochas  which  flie  indicates  to  them.  The  farther 
that  the  Sun  withdraws  from  one  Pole,  the  more  are  his 
rays  refrafted  there.  But  when  he  has  entirely  abandon- 
ed it,  then  it  is  that  his  light  is  fupplied  in  a  moll  won- 
derful manner.  Firft,  the  Moon,  by  a  movement  alto- 
gether incomprehenfible,  goes  to  replace  him  there,  and 
appears  perpetually  above  the  Horizon,  without  fetting, 
as  was  obferved  in  the  year  1596,  at  Nova  Zernbla,  by 
the  unfortunate  Dutchmen  who  wintered  there,  in  the  ;^'6tli 
degree  of  North  Latitude. 

It  is  in  tliofc  dreadful  climates,  that  Nature  multiplies 
her  refources,  in  order  to  befiow  on  fenfible  beings  the 
benefits  of  light  and  heat.  The  Heavens  are  there  illu- 
minated with   ihc  aurora  h>ral?s,  \>'hichd?ins  up  to  vhf 


440  A  VINDICATION  of 

very  zenith  rays  of  moving  light,  gold  coloured,  white 
and  red.  The  Poles  fparkle  with  ftars  more  luminous 
than  thofe  which  appear  in  the  reft  of  the  firmament. 
The  fnows  which  cover  the  ground  fhelter  part  of  the 
plants,  and,  by  their  luftre,  difpel  the  darknefs  of  night. 
The  trees  are  clothed  with  thick  moffes,  which  catch  fire 
from  the  fmalleft  fpark ;  the  very  ground  is  covered  with 
them,  efpecially  in  the  woods,  to  fo  great  a  depth,  that  1 
have,  oftener  than  once,  funk,  in  the  Summer  time,  up 
to  the  kn^es,  in  thofe  of  Ruflia  :  Finally,  the  animals, 
which  inhabit  thofe  regions,  are  robed  in  fur  to  the  very 
tip  of  their  claws. 

When  thefeafon  returns  for  rcftoring  heat  to  thofe  cli= 
mates,  the  Sun  reappears  there  a  confiderable  time  before 
his  natural  term.  Thus,  the  Dutch  mariners,  whom  I 
have  juft  mentioned,  faw  him,  to  their  aftonifhment,  above 
the  Horizon  of  Nova  Zembla,  on  the  twentyfourth  of 
January,  that  is,  fifteen  days  fooner  than  they  expefted 
him.  This  return,  fo  much  earlier  than  their  hopes  had 
fafhioned  it,  filled  them  with  joy,  and  difconcerted  the 
calculations  of  their  intelligent  pilot,  the  unfprtunate  Ba- 
rents. 

It  is  then  that  the  Star  of  Day  there  redoubles  his  heat 
and  his  light,  by  means  of  the  parhelions,  which,  like  fo 
many  mirrors  formed  in  the  clouds,  refle£l  his  difk  upon 
the  Earth.  He  calls  from  Africa  the  winds  of  the  South, 
which,  paffing  over  Zara,  whofe  fands  are  then  violently 
heated  by  the  vicinity  of  the  Sun  to  their  Zenith,  load 
themfelves  with  igneous  particles,  and  proceed  to  attack, 
like  battering  rams  of  fire,  that  tremendous  cupola  of  ice 
which  covers  the  extremity  of  our  Hemifphere.  Its  enor- 
mous vaultage,  diflblved  by  the  heat  of  ihofe  winds,  and 
loofened  by  their  violent  agitations,  detaches  itfelf  in 
fragments  as  lofty  as  jnountains  ;  and,  floating  at  the  dif- 
cretion  of  the  Currents,  which  fweep  them  along  toward 
the  Line,  they  advance  fometimes  as  lar  as  to  the  45th 
degree,  cooling  the  Seas  of  the  South,   by  their  vail  effu- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE,  141 

fions.  Thus  the  ices  of  the  Pole  communicate  coolijef§ 
to  the  heated  feas  of  Africa,  juft  as  the  burning  fands  q£ 
Africa  tranfmit  warm  winds  to  dilTolve  the  ices  of  the 
Pole. 

But  as  cold  is,  in  its  turn,  a  very  gr^at ,  b)efling  in  the 
Torrid  Zone,  Nature  employs  a  thoufand  methods  to  ex- 
tend the  influence,  of  it  in  that  Zone,  and  to  mitigate  in  it 
the  heat  and  the  light  of  the  Sun.  Firft,  fhe  deftroys  tjiere 
the  refraftions  of  the  Atmofphere.  There  is  fcarcely  any 
twilight  between  the  Tropics,  to  precede  the  rifing  oftlie 
-Sun,  and  ilijl  lefs  after. his  fetting.  When  he  is  in  the 
Zenith,  he  veils  himfelf  with  rainy  clpuds,  which  cool 
the  ground,  both  by  their  fhade  and  by  their  Ihowcrs. 
Befides,  thofe  clouds  being  frequently  impregnated  with 
thunder,  the  explofion  of  their  fires  dilates  the  fuperior 
ftratum  of  the  Atmofphere,  which  is  icy  at  the  height  of 
two  thoufand  five  hundred  fathom,  under  the  Line,  as 
is  evident  from  the  fnows  which. perpetually  cover,  at  that 
height,  the  ,fum.mits  of  fome  of  the  Cordelier  mountains. 
They  caufe  to  flow  down,  by  their  explofions  and  concuf- 
fions,  columns  ot  that  air,  congealed  in  the  fuperior  re- 
gions of  the  Atmofphere,  into  the  inferior,  which  are  fud- 
denly  cooled  by  it,  as  we  feel  it  to  be  in  our  own  climates, 
in,  Summer,  immediately  after  a  thunder  fl.orm. 

The  effiifions  of  the  polar  ices,  in  like  manner,  cool 
the  feas  of  the  South  ;  and  the  polar  winds  frequently 
blow  on  the  hottefl:  .parts  of  their  fhores.  Nature  has, 
farther,  placed  in  the  very  heart  of  the  Torrid  Zone,  and 
in  its  vicinity,  c)^ains  of  icy  mountains,  which  accelerate, 
and  redouble  the  effe6^ts  of  the  polar  winds,  efpecially  a- 
long  the  feas,  where  fermentation  was  mofl;  to  be  dread- 
ed, from  the  alluvions  of  the  bodies  of  animals,  and  of 
vegetables,  which  the  v/aters  are  there  continually  de- 
pofiting.  Thus,  the  chain  of  Mount  Taurus,  eternally 
covered  with  fnow,  commences  in  Africa,  on  the  burning 
Jliores  of  Zara,  and,  coafting  the  Mediterranean,  paiTes  on 


142 


A  VINDICAT10x\  or 


into  Afia,  where  it  extends  long  arms,  this  way  and  that, 
which  embrace  the  gulfs  of  the  Indian  Ocean.  In  Ameri- 
ca, in  the  fame  manner,  the  extenfive  chains  of  the  Cor- 
deliers of  Peru  and  Chili,  with  the  elevated  ridges  in 
which  it  crofles  Brafil,  cools  the  lengthened  and  burning 
fhores  of  the  South  Sea,  and  of  the  gulf  of  Mexico. 

Thefe  elementary  difpofitions  are  only  part  of  the  rc- 
fources  of  Nature,  for  mitigating  the  heat  in  warm  coun- 
tries. She  there  fhades  the  ground  with  creeping  veg- 
etables and  trees,  in  form  of  a  parafol,  fome  of  which, 
fuch  as  the  cocoa  tree  of  the  Sechelles  Iflands,  and  the 
talipot  of  Ceylon,  have  leaves  from  twelve  to  fifteen  feet 
long,  and  from  feven  to  eight  feet  broad.  She  clothes 
the  animals  of  thofe  regions  with  hairlefs  (kins,  and  col- 
ours them,  in  general,  as  well  as  the  verdure,  with  dark 
and  dufky  tints,  in  order  to  diminifh  the  reflexes  of  the 
heat  and  of  the  light.  This  laft  confideration  leads  me  here 
to  fuggeft  a  few  reflexions  on  the  efFefts  of  colours  ;  the 
little  which  I  fhall  advance  on  this  fubjcft,  will  be  fuffi- 
cient  to  produce  conviftion,  that  their  generations  are  not 
the  effeft  of  chance  ;  that  it  is  from  reafons  profoundly 
wife  we  find  one  half  of  them  proceed,  in  compounding 
themfelves,  toward  the  light ;  and  in  their  decompofition, 
toward  darknefs;  and  that  all  the  harmonies  of  this  World 
are  produced  by  contraries. 

Naturalifts  confider  colours  as  accidents.  But,  if  we 
attend  to  the  general  ufes  for  which  Nature  employs  them, 
we  fhall  be  perfuaded  that  there  is  not,  even  on  rocks,  a 
fmgle  fhade  impreffcd  without  a  meaning  and  a  purpofe. 
i.et  us  obferve,  in  the  firft  place,  the  principal  effefts  of 
the  two  extreme  colours,  v»'hite  and  black,  with  relation 
to  the  liglit.  Plxperience  demonftrates  that,  of  all  colours, 
white  is  that  v>'bich  bell:  reflefts  the  rays  of  the  Sun,  be- 
caufc  it  fends  them  back  without  any  tint,  as  pure  as  it  re- 
ceives them  ;  and  that  black,  on  the  contrarv,  is  the  leaft 
adapted  to  tlieir  reflection,  becaufc  it  abforbs  them.     This, 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  443 

is  the  reaion  why  gardeners  whiten  the  walls  againil  \fhich 
their  efpaliers  are  planted,  in  order  to  accelerate  the  ma- 
turity of  their  fruits,  by  the  reverberation  of  the  Sun's 
rays  ;  and  why  opticians  blacken  the  walls  of  the  camera 
objcura,  that  their  reflexes  may  not  diflurb  the  luminous, 
pifture  on  the  tablet. 

Nature,  of  confequence,  frequently  employs  to  the 
North  the  white  colour,  in  order  to  increafe  the  light  and 
heat  of  the  Sun.  Moft  of  the  lands  there  are  whitifh,  or 
of  a  clear  gray.  The  rocks  and  fands  of  northern  regions 
are  filled  with  mica  and  fpecular  particles.  Farther,  the 
whitenefs  of  the  fnows,  which  cover  them  in  Winter,  and 
the  vitreous  and  cryllalline  particles  of  their  ices,  are  ex- 
ceedingly adapted  to  mitigate  the  aftion  of  the  cold,  by  re- 
lieving the  light  and  heat  in  the  moft  advantageous  man- 
ner. The  trunks  of  the  birch  trees,  of  which  the  great- 
eft  part  of  their  forefts  confift,  are  covered  with  a  bark 
as  white  as  paper.  Nay,  in  fome  places,  the  earth  is  cloth- 
ed with  a  vegetation  completely  white. 

**  In  theeaftern  part,"  fays  an  intelligent  Swede,  "  of 
**  the  lofty  mountains  which  feparate  Sweden  from  Nor- 
*'  way,  expofed  to  the  utmoft  rigor  of  the  cold,  there  is  a^, 
*'  very  thick  foreft,  and  fmgular  in  this  refpeft,  that  the 
*'  pine  which  grows  there  is  rendered  black,  by  a  fpecies 
*'  of  filamentous  lichen,  which  hangs  upon  it  in  great  a-' 
"  bundance  ;  whereas  the  ground  is  covered  every  where 
"  around  with  a  white  lichen,  which,  in  luftre,  rivals  the 
'*  the  fnow.*" 

Nature  there  beftows  the  fame  colour  on  moft  animals, . 
fuch  as  the  white  bear,  the  wolf,  the  partridge,  the  hare,  the 
ermine  ;  others  perceptibly  whiten  to  a  certain  degree  in 
Winter,  fuch  as  foxes  and  fquirrels,  which  are  reddifh  in 
Summer,  and  light  gray  in  Winter.  Nay,  if  we  confider  the 

*  Extraft  from  the  Natural  Hiftory  of  the  rein  deer,  by  Charles  FfceUjkk 
ih^berg^  tranflafccd  bv  M,  le  Chevalier  de  KctaUs, 


444  A  VhMDlCATiO}^  or 

filiform  figure  of  their  hair,  its  yarhiflrahci'tranfparciidyV 
W6  fhall  be  fenfible  that  it  is  corlfrivecl  In  the  moft  proper 
lii'anner   for  reflefting'  arid  refracting  the  rays  of  light. 
We  ought  not  to'iniag'irie  this  whiteiiefs  is  a  degeneration, 
or  enfeebling  of  thfe  animal,  aS  Naturalifts  have  done  with 
refpeft  to  the  human  hair,  which  whitens  in  old  a^e,  as 
they  tell  us,  from  a  failure  of  radical  moifture  ;  for  noth- 
ihg'  c&n  be'of  a  tlbf^r  conte:s:t'ure  than  moft  of  thofe'  furs, 
ribr'any  thing  mbi'e  vigorous  than  the  animals  which  are 
arrayed  in  them.     The  white  bear  is  one  of  the  ftrongeft 
ahd  nioit  formidable  of  animals  in  the  world  ;  it'  fre^-' 
quietly  requires  fe Vera!  mufket  (hot  to  bring  him  doVvn. ' 
Nature^  on  the  contrary,  has  tinged  with  red,  with  blue, 
with  duiky,'  and  black  tints,  the  foil;  the  vegetables,  the- 
artimals,' nay,  evdn  ihfe'meri,  who  inhabit  the  Torrid  Zone, 
forthepurpofe  of  there  abforbing  the  fires  of  the  burnina*' 
Atmofphere  \^^ith  which  they  are  f6rr6unded.     Theiands, 
and  the  fands  of  the'greateft  pai"t  of  Africa^   fituated  be- 
tween the  Tropics,  are  of  a  reddifh  brown,  and  the  rocks  ' 
ai*<^  of  a  black' hue:    The  Iflands  of  France  and  of  Bour- 
tdH,' which  are  oil  the  border  of  that   Zone,  are,  in  gener- 
al, of  the  fame  dark  complexion.    I  have  feen  there  chick- 
ehs  and  parroquets,  not  only  whbfe  plumage,  butthefkin 
itfelf,  was  dyed  black.     I  have  likewife  feen,  in  thbfe  if- 
lands, fifhes  entirely  black,  and  efpecially  among  the  fpe- 
cies  which'  live  near  the   furface  '  of '  the  water,  over  the 
fHalloWs,  fuch  a^  the' old  Woman  and  the  thornbkck: 

As  animals  whiten,  in  Winter,  toward  the  Nbi'th,  in 
proportion  as  the  Sun  withdraws  frbrrl  them,  thbfe  *of  the 
Sbuth  afl'umc  dark  and  dufky  tints',  in '  prbpbrtio'ri"  as'thb 
Sim  approaches  to  them.  When  he  is  in  the  Zenith,  the 
fparrows  of  the' tropical  countries'  have  breaft^lates,  and 
the  plumage 'of  the  head,  completely  red.  There  are 
birds  in  thofe  regions  which  change  their  colour  three 
times  every  year,  havings  if  I  may  ufe  the  cxpreflion,  one 
«irefs  for  Spring,   another  for  Summer,   and   a  third  for 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  *4^ 

Winter,  according  as  the  Sun  is  in  the  Line,  in  the  Tropic 
of  Cancer,  or  in  that  of  Capricorn.* 

This,  too,  is  very  remarkable,  and  of  confequential  im- 
portance to  the  ufe  which  Nature  makes  of  thefe  colours, 
to  the  North,  and  to  the  South  ;  namely,  that  in  all  coun- 
tries, the  whiteft  part  of  the  body  of  an  animal  is  the  bel- 
ly, becaufe  more  heat  is  wanted  there  for  promoting  di  ^ 
geftion,  and  carrying  on  the  other  animal  functions  ;  and, 
on  the  contrary,  the  head  is  univerfally  moft  ftrongly  col- 
oured, efpecially  in  thofe  of  hot  countries,  becaufe,  in. 
the  animal  economy,  that  part  ftands  moft  in  need  of  be- 
ing kept  cool. 

It  cannot  be  maintained,  that  the  bellies  of  animals 
preferve  their  whitenefs,  becaufe  that  part  of  the  body  is 
iheltcred  from  the  Sun  ;  and  that  their  heads  afTume  ftrong 
colouring,  from  being  more  expofed  to  his  influence.  It 
might  appear,  from  reafons  of  analogy,  that  the  natural 
cffeft  of  light  ought  to  be,  to  inveft  with  its  luftre  all 
the  objefts  which  it  touches ;  and  that,  conformably  to 
this,  the  foilj  the  vegetables,  and  the  animals  of  the  Tor- 
rid Zone  ought  to  be  white  ;  and  that  darknefs,  on  the 

*  The  white  colour,  accordlrtgly,  incrcafes  the  eff"e£l  of  the  rays  of  the 
Sun,  and  the  black  weakens  it.  The  inhabitants  of  Malta  whiten  the  in- 
fide  of  their  apartments,  in  order,  as  they  allege,  to  render  the  fcorpions 
perceptible,  which  are  very  common  in  that  ifland.  In  doing  this,  if  I  am 
not  miftaken,  they  commit  two  errors;  the  firft,  in  mifapprehending  the 
colour  :  For  the  fcorpions,  which  there  are  gray,  would  appear  ftill  better 
on  a  dark  ground  ;  the  fecond,  and  one  of  much  greater  importance,  is 
their  increafmg  to  fuch  a  degree  the  reverberation  of  the  light,  that  the  eye- 
fight  is  fenfibly  affefted  by  it.  To  this  caufe  I  principally  afcribe  the  dif- 
order  of  the  eye  fo  frequently  complained  of  by  thofe  iflanders.  Oui 
trades  people  wear  white  hats,  in  Summer,  when  in  the  country,  and  com- 
plain of  headachs.  All  thefe  evils  arife  from  neglefling  to  ftudy  Xature. 
In  the  Ifle  of  Trance  they  employ,  for  wainfcotting,  the  wood  of  the  coun- 
try, which  in  time  becomes  entirely  black ;  but  this  tint  is  too  gloomy. 
It  feems  as  if  Nature  had  forefccn,  in  this  refpeft,  the  fervices  .which  Man 
was  to  derive  from  the  interior  of  trees  :  Their  timber  is  brown  in  moft 
of  thofe  of  hot  countries,  and  white  in  :hok  of  the  norlhern  regions,  fuch 
as  the  fir  and  tl;ic  birclj. 

VOLi  II.  T 


346  A  VINDICATION  OF 

contrary,  a6ling  for  feveral  months  together  on  the  Potes^ 
ought  to  clothe  every  objeft,  within  thofe  regions,  in 
robes  of  mourning.  But  Nature  fubjefts  not  herfelf  to 
mechanical  Laws.  Whatever  may  be  the  phyfical  effe6l 
.  of  the  prefence  of  the  Sun,  or  of  his  abfence,  ftie  has  con- 
trived, toward  the  North,  to  impofe  very  black  fpots  on 
the  whiteft  bodies,  and,  to  the  South,  white  fpots  on  the 
the  darkeft  bodies.  She  has  blackened  the  tip  of  the  tail 
of  the  Siberian  ermine,  in  order  that  thefe  little  animals, 
which  are  white  all  over,  as  they  march  along  the  fnow, 
where  they  fcarcely  leave  any  traces  of  their  footfteps, 
may  be  enabled  to  dillinguifh  each  other,  when  proceed- 
ing in  a  train,  in  the  luminous  reflexes  of  the  long  nights 
of  the  North. 

Perhaps,  too,  this  blacknefs,  oppofed  to  the  white,  may 
be  one  of  thofe  decided  chara6leriftics  with  which  (he 
has  marked  beafts  of  prey  ;  fuch  as  the  extremity  of  the 
black  fnout,  and  the  black  paws  of  the  white  bear.  Th^ 
ermine  is  a  fpecies  of  weafel.  There  are,  likewife,  in 
the  North,  foxes  completely  black  ;  but  they  are  indem- 
nified, for  the  influence  of  the  white  colour,  by  the  warm- 
cfl  and  thickeft  of  furs  ;  it  is  the  moll  valuable  of  all 
thofe  of  the  North.  Befides,  this  fpecies  of  foxes  is  very 
rare,  even  in  thofe  countries.  Nature  has,  perhaps,  clothed 
them  in  black,  becaufe  they  live  in  fubterraneous  places, 
in  the  midft  of  warm  fands,  or  in  the  vicinity  of  certain 
volcanoes,  or  for  fome  other  reafon,  to  me  unknown,  but 
correfponding  to  their  natural  calls.  It  is  thus  fhe  has 
clothed  in  while  the  paillencu,  or  bird  of  the  Tropics, 
becaufe  this  bird,  which  flies  at  a  prodigious  elevation  a- 
hove  the  Sea,  palTes  part  of  its  life  in  the  vicinity  of  a  fro- 
zen Atmofphcre.  Thefe  exceptions  by  no  means  deftroy 
the  general  adaptation  of  thofe  two  colours ;  on  the  con- 
trary, they  confirm  it,  feeing  it  is  employed  by  Nature  for 
diminifliing,  or  increafing,  the  heat  of  the  animal,  in  con- 
formity to  the  temperature  of  the  place  where  it  lives. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  147 

I  'now  leave'  it  'to  Naturalifis  to  explain  how  it  comes 
topafs,  that  cold  fliould  caufe  to  vegetate  the  hair  of  ani- 
mals in  the  North ;  and  why  the  heat  Ihould  (horten,  or 
caufe  to  fall  off,  the  hair  of  animals,  to  the  South  ;  in  con- 
tradiftion  to  all  the  Laws  of  fyftematic,  nay,  of  experi- 
mental Phyfics ;  for  we  are  allured,  from  our  perfonal 
experience,  that  Winter  retards  the  growth  of  the  human 
hair  and  beard,  and  that  Summer  accelerates  it. 

1  believe  I  have  a  glimpfe  of  a  law  very  different  from 
^the  Law  of  analogies,  which  we  fo  commonly  affign  to 
Nature,  becaufe  it  allies  itfeli  to  our  weaknefs,  by  afford- 
ing us  a  pretence  to  explain  every  thing,  with  the  affift- 
ance  of  a  fmall  number  of  principles.  This  Law,  infi- 
nitely varied  in  its  mear>s,  is  that  of  co?npcnfat2ons.^  It  is 
a  confequence  from  the  univerfal  Law,  or  the  mutual  a- 
daptation  of  things,  and  a  fequel  of  the  union  of  contra- 
ries, whereof  the  harmonies  of  the  imiverfe  are  compofed. 

*  In  reflecting  on  thefe  compenfations,  which  are  very  numerous,  and, 
among  others,  on  thofe  of  the  light  of  the  Sun,  which  embrowns  bodies  in 
■order  to  weaken  the  reflexes  of  ihcm,  it  has  fuggefted  itfelf  to  my  thoughts, 
that  fire  muft,  in  like  manner,  produce  matter  the  beft  adapted  to  diminifh 
its  own  a£tivity.  And  of  this  I  have,  in  faft,  made  frequent  proof,  by 
throwing  a  little  aflics  on  the  flame  blazing  on  my  hearth.  By  this  means 
I  have  been  able  to  quench  it  fuddenly  aimed  without  fmoke.  I  recolleft, 
to  this  purpofe,  having,  lome  time  ago,  feen,  in  one  of  our  feaports,  a  great 
caldron  f^ll  of  pitch,  catch  fire,  which  they  were  heating  for  careening  a 
Ihip.  Inexperienced  perfons  immediately  attempted  to  extinguifh  the 
flame  by  throv.'ing  water  upon  it ;  but  the  boiling  and  inflamed  matter 
fpread  but  the  more  violently,  in  torrents  of  fire,  over  the  brim  of  the  cal- 
dron ;  I  did  not  think  a  fingle  ladle  full  would  be  left  within  the  veiTel, 
■when  an  old  feaman  ran  up,  and  inllanily  brought  it  down  by  throwinaf  up- 
on it  a  few  (hovels  fall  of  afhes.  I  believe,  therefore,  that,  by  uniting  this 
application  with  that  of  water,  great  aflidance  might  be  derived  in  cafe  of  . 
conflagrations  ;  for  the  aflies  would  not  only  deaden  the  flame,  without  ex- 
citing that  dreadful  fmoke  which  arifes  from  it,  aa  foon  as  the  engines  bo- 
gin  to  play,  but  when  once  thoroughly  moiflened,  they  would  retard  the 
evaporation  of  the  vyater,  which  is  almoll  inftantaneous,  when  the  fire  has 
made  a  confiderable  progrefs.  It  would  afford  me  incxprefiiblc  fatisfac- 
tion,  fliould  this  obfervation  merit  the  attention  of  thofe  who  have  ability 
to  give  it,  from  their  experience,  fagacity  and  influence,  all  the  utilirv  >^i 
vi'bich  it  is  fiifceotible. 


J48  A  VINDICATION  oi 

'ihus  it  frequently  happens,  that  effe6ls,  fo  far  from  be- 
ing the  refults  of  caufes,  are  oppofite  to  them.  For  ex- 
ample, it  has  p leafed  Nature  to  clothe  in  white  feveral 
birds,  the  inhabitants  of  warm  regions,  fuch  as  the  heron 
of  the  Antilles,  and  the  perroquct  of  the  Moluccas,  call- 
ed cacato'es ;  but  fhe  has  beftowed,  at  the  fame  time,  on 
their  plumage,  a  difpofition  which  weakens  the  refleftion 
of  it. 

Farther,  it  is  very  remarkable,  that  fhe  has  furnifhed 
tl.c  heads  of  thofe  birds  with  tufts  and  plumes  of  feath- 
ers, which  ovcrfhadow  them,  becaufe,  as  was  formerly 
obfervcd,  the  head  is  that  part  of  the  body,  which,  in  the 
animal  economy,  Hands  moil  in  need  of  being  kept  cool. 
Such  is  our  creflcd  hen,  which  comes  originally  from  Nu- 
iiiidia.  Nay,  I  do  not  believe,  that  there  are  to  be  found 
in  any  but  fouthern  countries,  birds  with  tufted  heads. 
If  there  are  fome  toward  the  North,  as  the  lapwing,  they 
Tnakc  their  appearance  there  only  in  Summer.  Moft  of 
thofe  of  the  North,  on  the  contrary,  have  the  belly  and 
the  feet  clothed  with  tippets  formed  of  down,  fimilar  to 
J  he  fineft  of  wool. 

This,  likewifc,  is  lanlier  worthy  of  remark,  refpefting 
the  white  birds  and  quadrupeds  of  the  South,  which  live 
in  a  hot  Atmofphcrc,  namely,  if  1  am  not  miftaken,  that 
the  (km  of  th.cm  all  is  black,  which  is  fufficient  to  coun- 
terbalance the  reflc6f  ion  of  the  colour  of  their  exterior 
drefs.  Robert  Kijcx,  in  fpeaking  of  certain  white  quad- 
rupeds of  the  I(land  of  Ceylon,  fays,  that  their  fkin  i^ 
t-ntircly  hlack.  I  myfelf  recolleft  to  have  feen,  at  Port 
rOrient,  a  cacato'es,  whofe  ftomach  had  been  ftripped  of 
i!.r  fr.itljcrs,  and  difplayed  a  fkin  as  black  as  that  of  a  Ne- 
W'hcn  this  white  bird,  with  his  black  beak,  and 
i-i.uk  and  naked  breaft,  ercfted  his  plume,  and  clapped 
his  wir.gs,  he  had  the  complete  air  of  an  Indian  King,  with 
his  crown,  and  mantle  of  feathers. 

Ihis  Law  of  compcnfations  employs,  therefore,  means 
^ndtcfslv  varied,  which  conrr^dia  moil  of  the  Laws  whic^ 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  149 

we  have  laid  in  PhyCcs  ;  but  this  Law  mufl  itfelf  be  fub^ 
jefted  to  that  of  general  accommodation  or  conformity  ; 
without  which,  were  we  to  attempt  to  render  it  univerfal, 
it  Would  involve  us,  in  its  turn,  in  the  common  error.  It 
has  given  rife,  in  Geometry,  to  feveral  axioms  extremely 
doubtful,  though  of  great  celebrity,  fuch  as  the  following  ; 
the  adion  is  equal  to  the  reaSion  ;  and  this  other,  which 
is  a  confequencd  from  it,  the  angle  of  refledipn  is  equal  to 
the  angle  of  incidence.  I  fhall  not  flop  to  demonftrate  ia 
how  many  cafes  thefe  axioms  are  erroneous ;  how  many 
aftions  in  Nature  are  without  reaftions  ;  how  many  ac- 
tions have  unequal  rea61:ions  ;  how  many  angles  of  reflec- 
tion are  deranged  by  the  very  planes  of  incidence.  It  is 
fufficient  for  me,  at  prefent,  to  repeat  what  I  have  already, 
oftener  than  once,  advanced,  namely,  that  the  weaknefs  oi 
the  human  mind,  and  the  vanity  of  our  education,  are  in- 
cefTantly  prompting  us  to  generalize.  This  mode  of  pro- 
ceeding is  the  fource  of  all  our  errors,  and  perhaps,  of  all 
our  vices.  Nature  bellows  on  every  being  that  which  is 
adapted  to  it,  in  the  mod  perfeft  conformity,  according 
to  the  Latitude  for  which  it  is  deftined  ;  and  when  the 
temperature  of  that  Latitude  is  affefted  by  change  of  fea- 
fons,  fhe  is  pleafed  to  vary,  likewife,  the  adaptations. 
Some  of  thofe  adaptations  are,  accordingly,  immutable, 
and  others  variable. 

Nature  frequently  employs  contrary  m.eans  for  produc- 
ing the  fame  efFett.  She  makes  glafs  with  fire  ;  fhe  makes 
it,  too,  with  water,  the  cryflal  for  inftance  :  Farther,  (lie 
produces  it  from  animal  organization,  fuch  as  certain 
tranfparent  fneil  fifh.  She  forms  the  diamond  by  a  pro- 
cefs  to  us  utterly  unknown.  Conclude  now,  becaufe  a 
body  has  been  vitrified,  it  mufl  certainly  be  by  the  effect 
of  fire,  and  rear  on  this  perception  the  fyftem  ol  the  U- 
niverfe  !  The  utmoft  that  we  aie  capable  of  doing  is  to 
catch  fome  harmonic  inllants  in  the  exillence  ol  beings. 
That  which  is  vitrifiable  becomes  calcareous,  and  what  is" 
^alcareous  changes  into  glafs,  by  the  action  oi  the  fame-. 


ijo  A  VINDICATION  of 

fire.  Deduce  then,  from  thefe  fimplc  modifications  of 
the  foflil  kingdom,  invariable  charaQers  for  determining 
the  general  clalTes  of  it  ! 

On  the  other  hand,  Nature  frequently  employs,  alfo, 
the  fame  means,  for  producing  effecls  dire6lly  contrary, 
for  example,  we  have  feen  that,  in  order  to  increafe  the 
heat  over  the  lands  of  the  North,  and  to  mitigate  it  over 
thofe  of  the  South,  fhe  made  ufe  of  oppofite  colours  ;  fhe 
produces  in  both  the  fame  effefts,  by  covering  the  face  of 
the  one  and  of  the  other  with  rocks.  Thefe  rocks  are 
eflentially  neceffary  to  vegetation.  I  have  frequently  re- 
marked, in  thofe  of  Finland,  llripes  of  verdure  fkirting 
their  bafes  to  the  South  ;  and  in  thofe  of  the  Ifle  of 
France,  I  have  feen  fuch  verdant  ftripes  on  the  fide  avert- 
ed from  the  Sun. 

The  fame  obfervations  may  be  made  in  our  own  clim- 
ate. In  Summer,  when  every  thing  is  parched,  we  fre- 
quently find  green  herbage  under  walls  which  have  a 
northerly  afpeft  ;  it  difappears  in  Winter  ;  but  then  we 
find  it  replaced  in  front  of  eminences  which  face  fouth- 
ward. 

We  have  already  remarked,  that  the  icy  Zones,  and  the 
Torrid  Zone,  contain  the  greateft  quantity  of  waters,  the 
evaporation  of  which  equally  tempers  the  violence  of  the 
heat  and  of  the  cold,  with  this  difference,  that  the  great- 
eft  lakes  are  toward  the  Poles,  and  the  greateft  rivers  to- 
ward the  Line.  There  are,  it  is  admitted,  fome  lakes  in 
the  interior  of  Africa  and  of  America  ;  but  they  are  plac- 
ed in  elevated  atmofpheres,  in  the  centre  of  mountains, 
where  they  are  not  liable  to  corruption  from  the  aftion 
of  the  heat ;  but  the  plains  and  low  grounds  are  wafhed 
by  the  greateft  currents  of  living  water  that  are  in  the 
World,  fuch  as  the  Zara,  the  Senegal,  the  Nile,  the  Me- 
chafiippi,  the  Oroonoko,  the  Amazon  and  others. 

Nature  propofes  to  herfelf,  unive- Tally,  only  the  accom- 
modation of  beings  polTefied  of  fcniibility.  This  remarl; 
is  all  important  in  the  lludy  of  her  Works  ;  otherwifc. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  151 

from  the  fimilitude  of  the  means  which  fhe  employs,  or 
the  exceptions  from  them,  we  might  be  tempted  to  doubt 
of  the  confiftency  of  her  Laws,  inftead  of  afcribing  the 
majeftic  obfcurity  which  pervades  them,  to  the  muUiplic- 
ity  of  her  refources,  and  to  the  profundity  of  our  own 
ignorance.  \  ' 

This  Law  of  adaptation  and  conformity  has  been  the 
fource  of  all  bur  difcoveries.  It  was  this  which  wafted 
Chrijlopher  Columbus  to  America  ;  becaufe  as  Herrcra 
tells  us,*  he  thought,, contrary  to  the  opinion  of  the  An- 
cients, that  the  whole  five  Zones  muft  be  inhabited,  as 
GOD  had  not  formed  the  Earth  to  be  a  defert*  It  is  this 
Law  which  regulates  our  ideas  refpefting  objefts  abfolute- 
ly  beyond  the  reach  of  our  examination.  By  means  of 
it,  though  we  are  ignorant  whether  there  may  be  men  in 
the  Planets,  we  are  alTured  there  niufl  be  eyes,  becaufe 
there  is  light.  It  is  this  which  has  awakened  a  fenfe  of 
Juftice  in  the  heart  of  every  man,  and  informs  him  that 
there  is  another  order  of  things  after  this  life  is  at  an  end. 
This  Law,  in  a  word,  is  the  moft  irrefiftible  proof  of  the 
exiftence  of  GOD  ;  for  amidft  fuch  a  multitude  of  adap- 
tations fo  ingenious,  that  our  paflions  themfelves,  reftlefs 
as  they  are,  never  could  have  devifed  any  thing  fimilar  ; 
and  fo  numerous,  that  every  day  is  prefenting  to  us  fome 
that  have  all  the  merit  of  novelty,  the  firft  of  all,  which  is 
the  Deity,  muft  undoubtedly  exift,  as  He  is  the  general 
conformity  of  all  particular  conformities. 

It  is  this,  above  all,  whofe  exiftence  we  endeavour,  ev- 
en involuntarily, -every  where  to  trace,  and  to  affure  our- 
felves  of  it  in  every  poflible  manner.  And  this  explains 
to  us  the  reafon  why  the  moft  fplendid  and  comprehenfive 
coUeaions  in  Natural  Hiftory,  Galleries  of  the  choiceft 
mafterpieces  in  Painting,  Gardens  filled  with  the  rareft 
and  moft  curious  plants.  Libraries  ftored  with  the  moft 
valuable  and  beft  written  books  ;  in  a  word,  every  thing 

*  Hmera'i  Hiftory  of  the  Weftindics,  Book  i.  chap.  2. 


«52  A  VINDICATION  or 

that  prefenls  to  us  the  moft  marvellous  relations  of  Na- 
ture, after  having  raifed  us  to  an  extafy  of  admiration, 
conclude  by  fuperinducing  languor  and  fatigue.  We  fre~ 
quently  prefer  to  all  thefe  a  ruftic  mountain,  a  rugged 
rod;,  fome  wild  folitude,  which  might  prefent  to  us  rela- 
tions newer,  and  ftill  more  direft. 

How  often,  on  coming  out  of  the  King's  magnificent 
Cabinet  of  Natural  Hiftory,  do  we  flop  mechanically  to 
Jook  at  a  gardener  digging  a  hole  in  the  field  with  his 
fpade,  or  at  a  carpenter  hewing  a  piece  of  timber  with  his 
hatchet  ?  It  looks  as  if  we  expefted  to  fee  fome  new  har- 
mony flart  out  of  the  bofom  of  the  Earth,  or  burfl  from 
the  fide  of  a  lump  of  oak.  We  fet  no  value  on  thofe 
which  we  have  jult  been  enjoying,  unlefs  they  lead  us  for- 
ward to  others,  which  as  yet  we  do  not  know.  But  were 
the  complete  Hiftory  given  us  of  the  flars  of  the  Firma- 
ment, and  of  the  invifible  Planets  which  encircle  them,  we 
ihould  perceive  in  them  a  multitude  of  ineffable  plans  of 
intelligence  and  goodnefs,  after  which  the  heart  would 
continue  fondly  to  figh  :  Its  lafl  and  only  end  is  the  Di- 
vinity himfelf. 


biVlNE  PROVIDENCE.  153 


STUDY  TENTH. 


At^PUCATIONS  OF  SOME  GENERAL  LAWS  OF  NA- 
TURE  TO  PLANTS. 


xSEFORE  1  proceed  to  fpeak  of  plants,  I  muft  be  in- 
dulged in  making  a  few  reflexions  on  the  language  of  Bot- 
any. 

We  are  flill  fo  young  in  the  ftudy  of  Nature,  that  our 
ianguagies  are  deficient  in  terms  to  exprefs  her  moft  com- 
mon harmonies.  This  is  fo  true,  that  however  exaft  the 
defcriptions  of  plants  may  be,  and  compiled  by  Botanifls 
of  whatever  ability,  it  is  impofTible  to  diftinguifti  them  in 
the  fields,  unlefs  yOu  have  previoufly  feen  them  in  Nature, 
or,  at  leaft,  in  an  herbary.  Perfons,  who  think  they  have 
Inade  the  greateft  proficiency  in  Botany,  need  only  attempt 
to  draw  on  paper  a  plant  which  they  have  never  feen,  af- 
ter the  defcription  of  the  moft  accurate  Mafter,  to  be  con- 
vinced  how  widely  the  copy  deviates  from  the  original. 

Men  of  genius-  have,  neverthelefs,  taken  inexpreffible 
pains  to  aflign  charafteriftic  names  to  the  different  parts 
of  plants.  They  have  even  borrowed  moft  of  thofe  names 
from  the  Greek,  a  language  of  fingular  energy  of  expref- 
fion.  From  this  has  refulted  another  inconveniency ;  it 
is,  that  thofe  names,  being  for  the  moft  part  compounds, 
cannot  be  rendered  into  modern  language ;  and  for  this 
reafon  it  is  that  a  great  part  of  the  Works  of  Linnaus  are 
abfolutely  incapable  of  tranflation.     Thefe   learned  and 

VOL.    II,  u 


1^4  A  VINDICATION  of 

Hiyflerious  expreffions,  no  doubt,  diflfufe  a  venerable  air 
over  the  fludy  of  Botany  ;  but  Nature  has  no  need  of 
fuch  refources  of  human  art  to  attraft  our  refpeft.  The 
fublimity  of  her  Laws  can  eafily  difpenfe  with  the  em- 
phafis  and  obfcurity  of  our  expreffions.  The  more  light 
a  man  carries  in  his  own  bofom,  the  more  wonderful  he 
efteems  it  to  be. 

After  all,  moft  of  thofe  foreign  names,  employed  par- 
ticularly by  the  herd  of  Botanifts,  do  not  fo  much  as  ex- 
prefs  the  moft  common  charafters  of  vegetables.  They 
frequently  make  ufe,  for  example,  of  fuch  vague  expref- 
fions as  \.h.e{(t,Juave  rubente,  fuave  olente^  of  an  agreeable 
red,  fweet  fmelling,  in  order  to  charafterize  flowers ; 
without  expreffing  the  fhade  of  red,  or  the  fpecies  of  per- 
fume. They  arc  flill  more  embarrafTed,  when  they  wifii 
to  convey  the  dufky  colours  of  the  flem,  of  the  root,  or  of 
the  fruit :  Atro  rubejite,  fay  they,  Jufco  nigrtfcente^  of  a 
dark  red,  of  a  dufky  brown.  As  to  the  forms  of  vegeta- 
bles, the  cafe  is  flill  w^orfe,  though  they  have  fabricated 
terms  compounded  of  four  or  five  Greek  words  to  defcribe 
them, 

jf.  J.  Roujftau  communicated  to  me,  one  day,  a  fet  of 
characters  fomewhat  refembling  the  algebraic,  which  he 
had  invented  for  the  purpofe  of  briefly  expreffing  the  col- 
ours and  forms  of  vegetables.  Some  of  them  reprefented 
the  forms  of  the  flowers;  others,  thofe  of  the  leaves ;  oth- 
ers, thofe  of  the  fruits.  Some  refembled  a  heart,  fome 
were  triangular,  fome  of  the  lozenge  fhape.  He  did  not 
employ  above  nine  or  ten  of  thofe  figns,  to  compofe  the 
cxpreffion  of  one  plant.  Some  he  placed  above  others, 
with  cyphers  which  indicated  the  genera  and  the  fpecies 
of  the  plant,  fo  that  you  would  have  taken  them  for  the 
terms  of  an  algebraic  formula.  However  ingenious  and 
expeditious  this  method  mieht  be,  he  informed  me  that 
he  had  given  it  up,  becaufe  it  prcfented  to  him  fkeletons 
only. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE. 


'03 


This  fentiment  came  with  peculiar  grace  from  a  man 
whofe  tafte  was  equal  to  his  genius,  and  may  fuggell  fome 
reflections  to  thofe  who  are  for  giving  abridgments  of  ev. 
€ry  thing,  efpecially  of  the  Works  of  Nature.  The  idea 
of  John  James,  however,  well  deferves  to  be  followed  up, 
fhould  it  only  ferve  to  produce,  one  day,  an  alphabet  pro- 
per to  exprefs  the  language  of  Nature.  All  that  feemvS 
requifite  is  the  introduftion  of  accents,  to  convey  the 
fhades  of  colours,  and  all  the  modifications  of  favours,  per- 
fumes and  forms.  After  all,  thofe  charafters  could  not 
be  delineated  with  perfe6l  precifion,  unlefs  the  qualities 
of  each  vegetable  are  firft  exaftly  determined  by  words: 
Otherwife  the  language  of  Botanifts,  which  is  now  accuf- 
€d  of  fpeaking  only  to  the  ear,  would  make  itfelf  intelli- 
gible only  to  the  eye. 

This  is  what  I  have  to  propofe  refpe6ling  an  objeft  fo 
highly  interefting,  and  which  will  perfeftly  coalefce  with 
the  general  principles  which  we  ihall  afterwards  lay  down. 
The  little  which  I  may  advance  on  the  fubjeft  will  ferve 
to  fupply  exprefliori;  not  only  in  Botany,  and  in  the  ftudy 
of  the  other  natural  Sciences,  but  in  all  the  Arts,  where 
we  find  ourfelves  puzzled  every  inftant,  for  want  of  terms 
to  convey  the  (hades  and  forms  of  objefts. 

Though  we  have  only  the  term  white,  whereby  to  ex- 
prefs the  colour  which  bears  that  name,  Nature  prefents 
to  us  a  great  variety  of  forts  of  it.  Painting,  with  refpecl 
to  this  article,  is  as  barren  as  language. 

I  have  been  told  of  a  famous  Painter  of  Italy,  who,  up- 
on a  certain  occafion,  found  himfelf  very  much  embarraff- 
ed  how  to  reprefent,  in  one  of  his  pieces,  three  figures 
(Irefled  in  white.  The  point  in  queftion  was,  to  give  ef- 
feft  to  thofe  figures,  to  be  thus  uniformly  dreffed,  and  to 
draw  out  different  fliades  of  the  moft  fimple,  and  the  leaft 
compounded,  of  all  colours.  Ke  was  going  to  abandon 
his  objeft  as  a  thing  impoffible,  when,  happening  to  pafs 
through  a  corn  market,  he  perceived  the  effe£l  which  he 
was  in  queft  of.     It  was  a  group  farmed  by  three  millers. 


J36  A  VINDICATION  op 

cne  of  whom  was  under  a  tree,  the  fecond  in  the  half  tint 
of  the  (hade  of  that  tree,  and  the  third  expofed  to  the  rays 
of  the  Sun  :  So  that  though  the  drapery  of  all  the  three 
was  white,  they  were  completely  detached  from  each  oth- 
er. He  introduced  a  tree,  therefore,  amid  ft  the  three  per- 
fonages  of  his  pifture,  and,  by  illuminating  one  of  them 
with  the  rays  of  the  Sun,  and  throwing  over  the  other  twcx 
different  tints  of  fhade,  he  was  enabled  to  exhibit  a  dra- 
pery of  three  feyeral  cafts  of  white. 

This,  however,  was  rather  to  elude  the  difficulty,  than 
to  refolve  it.  And  this  is,  in  faft,  what  Painters  do  in  fim- 
ilar  cafes.  They  diverfify  their  whites  by  (hades,  half 
tints  and  reflexes ;  but  thefe  whites  are  not  pure ;  they 
are  always  difturbed  with  yellow,  blue,  green  or  gray. 
Nature  employs  feveral  fpecies  of  white,  without  dimin- 
ilhing  the  purity  of  it,  by  dotting,  rumpling,  radiating, 

varnifhing  it,  and  in  various   other  ways^ Thus,  the 

whites  of  the  lily,  of  the  daify,  of  the  lily  of  the  valley,  of 
the  narciffus,  of  the  anemone  nemorofa,  of  the  hyacinth, 
are  all  different  from  each  other.  The  white  of  the  daify 
has  fomething  of  that  of  a  fhepherdefs's  cornet ;  that  of 
the  hyacinth  has  a  refemblance  of  ivory  ;  and  that  of  the 
lily,  half  tranfparent  and  chryftalline,  refembles  the  pafte 
of  porcelain.  I  believe,  therefore,  that  all  the  whites,  pro- 
duced by  Nature,  or  by  Art,  might  be  referred  to  thofe  of 
the  petals  of  our  flowers.  We  fhould  thus  have,  in  vege- 
tables, a  fcale  of  (hades  of  the  pureft  white. 

We  might,  in  like  manner,  procure  all  the  pure  and  im- 
aginable (hades  of  yellow,  of  red  and  of  blue,  from  the 
flowers  of  the  jonquil,  of  the  faffron,  of  the  butter  flower 
of  the  meadow,  oi  the  rofe,  of  the  pvppy,  of  the  blue  bot- 
tle, of  the  cornfield,  of  the  larkfpur  and  fo  on.  We  might 
find,  in  the  fame  manner,  among  our  common  flowers,  all 
the  compound  (hades,  fuch  as  thofe  of  the  impurpled  vio- 
let and  foxglove,  which  are  formed  pf  the  various  harmo- 
nies of  red  and  blue.  The  fmgle  compound  colour,  made 
up  of  blue  and  yellow,  which  conUitutes  the  green  of  oui: 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  157 

lierbage,  is  fo  varied  in  every  plain,  that  each  plant,  I  may- 
venture  to  affirm,  has  its  peculiar  fhade  ot  that  colour.  I 
can  have  no  doubt  that  Nature  has  difplayed,  in  equal 
variety,  the  other  colours  of  her  palette,  in  the  bofom  of 
flowers,  or  on  the  furface  of  fruits. 

In  performing  this,  fhe  fometimes  employs  very  differ- 
ent tints,  without  confounding  them ;  but  flie  lays  them 
on  one  above  another,  fo  that  they  form  tlie  dove's  neck  : 
Such  is  the  beautiful  fhag  which  garnifhes  the  corola  of 
the  anemone;  in  other  cafes,  fhe  glazes  their  furface,  as 
certain  moffes  with  a  green  ground,  which  are  glazed  over 
with  purple ;  ihe  velvets  others,  fuch  as  the  panfy  ;  (he 
powders  over  fome  fruits  with  a  delicately  fine  flour, 
fuch  as  the  purple  plumb,  diffinguifhed  by  the  addition 
oi  de  Monjieur  ;  or  invefts  them  with  a  light,  down  to  foft- 
en  their  vermillion,  as  the  peach  ;  or  fmooths  their  fkin, 
and  gives  the  brightefl  hiflre  to  their  colours,  as  to  the  red 
pf  the  apple  of  Calleville. 

What  embarrafTes  Naturalifts  the  moft,  in  denominating 
colours,  is  to  find  diflinftive  epithets  for  fuch  as  are  dufky ; 
jpT  rather,  this  gives  them  no  manner  of  concern  :  For  they 
evade  the  difficulty  by  the  vague  and  indecifive  expref- 
fions,  of  blackifh,  gray,  afh  coloured,  brown,  which  they 
convey,  it  is  true,  in  Greek  and  Latin  words.  But  thofe 
words  frequently  anfwer  no  purpofe,  except  to  confound 
their  images,  by  giving  no  reprefentation  whatever ;  for 
what,  in  good  earneil,  is  meant  by  thefe>  and  fuch  like 
epithets,  airopurfurante^fii/Lonigre/cenie.'which.they  em- 
ploy fo  frequently  ? 

It  is  pofTible  to  make  thoufands  of  tints  widely  dif- 
ferent from  each  other,  to  which  fuch  general  expreflions 
might  be  applied.  As  thofe  dark  fhades,  in  truth,  are 
much  compounded,  it  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  charafcler- 
ize  them  by  the  phrafeology  of  our  common  vocabularies. 
But  this  might  be  eafily  and  cfTeftualiy  accomplilhed,  by 
referring  them  to  the  different  colours  of  our  domeflic 
vegetables,    I  have  remarked  in  the  barks  of  our  trees  and 


1^8  A  VINDICATION  of 

fhrubbery,  in  the  capfules  and  fhells  of  their  fruits,  as  well 
as  in  the  dead  leaves,  an  incredible  variety  of  thofe  fad 
and  gloomy  fhades,  from  yellow  down  to  black,  with  all 
the  intermixtures  and  accidents  of  the  other  colours.  Thus, 
inflead  of  faying  in  Latin,  a  yellow  inclining  to  black,  or 
an  afli  coloured  tint,  in  order  to  determine  fome  particu- 
lar fliade  of  colour  in  a  produftion  of  Art,  or  of  Nature, 
we  might  fay  a  yellow  of  the  colour  of  a  dried  walnut,  or 
a  gray  like  the  bark  of  a  beech  tree. 

Thofe  exprelTions  would  be  fo  much  the  more  exaft, 
that  Nature  invariably  employs  fuch  tints  in  vegetables, 
as  determining  characters  and  indications  of  maturity,  of 
vigor,  or  of  decay  ;  and  that  our  peafantry  can  diftinguifli 
the  different  fpecies  of  wood  in  the  forefts  by  infpeftion 
of  their  bark  fimply.  Thus,  not  Botany  alone,  but  all  the 
Arts,  might  find,  in  vegetables,  an  inexhaullible  diftionary 
of  unvarying  colours,  which  would  not  be  embarrafTed 
with  barbarous  and  technical  compound  words,  but  which 
would  continually  prefent  new  images.  Our  books  of 
Science  would  thence  derive  much  pleafmg  vivacity,  from 
being  embellilhed  by  comparifons  and  exprefTions  bor- 
rowed from  the  lovelieft  kingdom  of  Nature. 

The  great  Poets  of  Antiquity  carefully  availed  them- 
felves  of  this,  by  referring  mofl  of  the  events  of  human 
life  to  fome  appearance  of  the  vegetable  kingdom.  Thus 
Homer  compares  the  fleeting  generations  of  feeble  mor- 
tals to  the  leaves  which  drop  from  the  trees  ot  the  foreft, 
at  the  end  of  Autumn  ;  the  frefhnefs  of  beauty  to  that  of 
the  rofe ;  and  the  palenefs  which  overfpreads  the  counte- 
nance of  a  young  man  wounded  to  death  in  battle,  as  well 
as  the  attitude  of  his  drooping  head,  to  the  colour  and  the 
fading  of  a  lily,  whofe  root  has  been  torn  up  by  the  plough. 
But  we  fatisfy  ourfelves  with  repeating  the  exprefTions  of 
men  of  genius,  without  daring  to  tread  in  their  footfleps. 
This,  however,  is  not  the  worft,  for  mofl  Naturalifls  con- 
fider  the  colours  thcmfelves  of  vegetables  as  accidents 
fjmply.     We  fhall  prefently  fee  under  what  a  grievous 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  139 

mlftake  they  labour,  and  how  widely  they  have  deviated 
from  the  fublime  plans  of  Nature,  by  perfifting  in  a  prof- 
^cution  of  their  mechanical  and  fyftematic  methods. 

It  is  poflible,  in  like  manner,  to  trace  an  approxima- 
tion of  favours  and  fmells  of  every  fpecies,  and  of  every 
country,  to  thofe  of  the  plants  of  our  gardens  and  of  our 
fields.  The  ranunculus  of  the  meadow  has  the  acridity  of 
the  Java  pepper.  The  root  of  the  caryophyllata,  or  holy 
thiftle,  and  the  flower  of  the  pink,  fmell  like  the  clove  of 
Amboyna.  As  to  compound  favours  and  fmells,  they  may 
be  referred  to  fuch  as  are  fimple,  the  elements  of  which 
Nature  has  fcattered  over  all  climates,  and  which  fhe  has 
united  in  the  clafs  of  vegetables.  I  know  a  fpecies  of  mo- 
rel, ufed  as  food  by  the  Indians,  which,  when  boiled,  has 
the  tafte  of  beef.  They^call  it  brette.  There  is  a  fpecies 
of  the  cranefbill,  the  leaf  of  which  refembles,  in  fmell,  a 
roafted  leg  of  mutton.  The  mufcari,  a  fpecies  of  fmall  hy- 
acinth, which  grows  among  fhrubbery  early  in  the  Spring, 
fmells  very  ftrongly  of  the  plumb.  Its  fmall  monopeta- 
lous  flowers,  of  a  delicate  blue  colour,  and  with  lips  or 
incifions,  have  likewife  the  form  of  that  fruit. 

By  approximations  fuch  as  thefe,  the  Englifli  Navigator 
Dampier,  and  Father  du  Tertre,  have  given  us,  as  far  as  I 
can  judge,  the  moll  accurate  notions  of  the  fruits  and  flow- 
ers which  grow  between  the  Tropics,  by  referring  them 
to  the  fruits  and  flowers  of  our  own  climates.  Dampier^ 
for  example,  in  order  to  defcribe  the  banana,  compares  it, 
when  ftripped  of  its  thick  five  panneled  fl^in,  to  a  large 
faufage  ;  its  fubflance  and  colour  to  frefh  butter  in  Win- 
ter ;  its  tafte,  a  mixture  of  apple  and  of  the  pear  known 
by  the  name  of  the  good  chnftian,  which  melts  in  the 
mouth  like  marmalade.  When  this  traveller  defcribes 
lome  good  fruit  of  the  Indies,  he  fetsyour  mouth  a  water- 
ing. He  poflefles  a  naturally  found  underilanding,  fupe- 
rior,  at  once,  to  the  methodical  tramm.els  of  the  learned, 
and  to  the  prejudices  of  the  vulgar.  He  maintains,  for 
inftance,  and  with  truth  on  his  fide,  in  oppofition  to  the 


i5o  A  VINDICATION  of 

cpinlon  of  mofl  navigators,  that  the  plantain,  or  banana,  U 
the  king  of  fruits,  without  excepting  even  the  cocoa.  He 
informs  us,  that  this  is  likewife  the  opinion  of  the  Span- 
iards, and  that  multitudes  of  families  live,  between  the 
Tropics,  on  this  pleafant,  wholefome,  and  nourifliing  fruit, 
which  lafts  all  the  year  round,  and  Hands  in  no  need  of 
any  of  the  arts  of  cookery. 

Father  du  Tertre  is  not  lefs  happy,  nor  lefs  accurate, 
in  his  botanical  defcriptions.  Thefe  two  travellers  give 
you,  at  a  fmgle  ftroke,  by  means  of  trivial  fimilitudes,  a 
precife  idea  of  a  foreign  vegetable,  which  you  would  fearch 
for  to  no  purpofe  in  the  Greek  names  of  our  firft  rate  Bot- 
anifls.  This  mode  of  defcribing  Nature,  by  ordinary  im- 
ages and  fenfations,  is  held  in  contempt  by  the  learned; 
but  I  confider  it  as  the  only  one  capable  of  exhibiting 
pictures,  that  have  a  refemblance,  and  as  the  true  charafter 
of  genius.  With  fuch  affiftance,  you  will  be  enabled  to 
paint  every  natural  objeft,  and  may  difpenfe  with  methods 
and  fyflems ;  without  it  you  will  only  coin  phrafes. 

Let  us  now  fuggejft  a  few  thoughts  refpefling  the  forni 
oi  natural  objefts.  It  is  here  that  the  language  of  Botany, 
and  even  thofe  of  the  other  Arts,  are  peculiarly  barren. 
Geometry,  whofe  particular  objefl;  this  is,  has  invented 
fcarcely  more  than  a  dozen  of  regular  curves,  which  are 
known  to  only  a  fmall  number  of  the  learned ;  and  Na- 
ture employs  an  infinite  multitude  of  them  in  the  forms 
of  flowers  alone.  Some  of  the  ufes  of  thefe  we  fhall  pref- 
ently  indicate.  Not  that  1  mean  to  make  of  a  fludy  pro- 
lific of  delight,  a  fublime  Science,  worthy  only  of  the  ge- 
nius of  a  Newton.  As  Nature  has  introduced,  in  my  o- 
plnion,  not  only  the  colours,  the  favours  and  the  perfumes, 
but  likewife  every  model  of  form  into  the  leaves,  the  flow- 
ers and  the  fruits  of  all  climates,  whether  in  trees,  in 
herbage,  or  in  moffes ;  the  vegetable  forms  of  other  part^ 
of  the  World,  might  be  referred  to  thofe  of  our  own 
country  which  are  moft  familiar  to  us.  Such  approxima- 
tions would  be  much  more  intelligible  than  Greek  com- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  lit 

pound  wards,  and  would  manifeft  new  relations  in  the 
different  claffes  of  the  fame  kingdom. 

They  would  be  no  lefs  neceffary  for  expreffing  the  ag- 
gregations of  the  flowers  on  their  ftems^  of  the  ftems  round 
the  root,  and  the  groups  of  young  plants  around  the  pa- 
rent plant.  It  may  be  affirmed,  that  the  names  of  moft  of 
thefe  vegetable  aggregations  artd  difpofitions  are  yet  to  be 
invented  ;  the  greateft  Mailers  not  having  been  fortunate 
in  charafterizing  them,  or,  to  fpeak  without  referve,  not 
having  made  it  any  part  of  their  ftudy.  For  example, 
when  Tournefort*  fpeaks,  in  his  Voyage  to  the  Levant^ 
of  a  heliotrope  of  the  Ifle  of  Naxos,  which  he  charafter- 
izes  thus,  hdiotropum  humifufum,  flore  minimo,  femint 
magno,  the  creeping  heliotrope,  with  a  very  fmali  flower 
and  a  large  feed  ;  he  fays  that  it  has  its  flowers  difpofed  in 
form  of  an  ear  of  corn^  going  off  in  a  fcorpion's  tail* 
There  are  two  miftakes  in  this  defcription  ;  for  the  flow- 
ers of  this  heliotrope,  fimilar,  from  their  aggregation,  to 
the  flowers  of  the  heliotrope  of  our  climates,  and  to  that 
of  Peru,  are  not  difpofed  in  form  of  an  ear  of  corn^  for 
they  are  arranged  on  a  horizontal  ftem,  and  only  on  one 
fide ;  and  they  bend  downward,  like  the  tail  of  a  fnail, 
and  not  upward,  like  the  tail  of  a  fcorpion. 

The  fame  inaccuracy,  in  refpeft  of  image,  is  to  be 
found  in  the  defcription  which  he  gives  us  of  the  Jlachis 
Cretica  iatifolia,  the  broad  leaved  flachis  of  Cjete :  Its 
flowers,  fays  he,  are  difpofed  in  rings.  No  one  can  im^ 
agine  he  intends  to  convey  this  meaning,  that  they  are 
difpofed  like  the  diyifions  of  the  king  of  the  chefs  board. 
Under  this  form,  however,  they  are  reprefented  in  the 
drawing  of  Aubriet,  his  deflgner.  I  do  not  know  any  bo- 
tanic expreffion  which  conveys  this  charafter  of  fpherical 
aggregations,  in  feparate  ftories  of  alternate  fwellings  and 
fmkings,  and  terminating  in  a  pyramid.  Barbsu  du  Bourg, 
who  poffeffes  much  imagination  with  little  exaftnefs,  call* 

*  Tourneforrs  Voyage  to  the  Levant,  yq),  i. 
VOL,    II.  W 


j6^  a  VlKDlCATl-OiNf  of 

this  form  verticiilate,  for  what  reafon  I  know  not.  -  If  ri 
is  from  the  Latin  word  vertex,  head  or  fummit,  becalife 
thcfe  flowers,  thus  aggregated,  form  feveral  fummits,  this 
denomination  would  be  more  applicable  to  feveral  other 
plants;  and,  befides,  does  not  exprefs  the  fwellings,  the 
finkings,  and  the  progreflive  diminution  of  the  flowers  of 
the  ftachis. 

Tournefort  Acx'wt^  ix.  from  the  Latin  word  verticillus* 
that  is,  fays  he,  a  fmall  weight  perforated  circularly  to  re- 
ceive the  end  of  a  fpindle,  in  order  to  make  it  whirl  with 
greater  facility.     This  is  going  a  great  way,  in  queft  of  a 
verv  imperfe6l  fimilitude,  to  an  utenfil  by  no  means  gen- 
erally known.     In   faying  this,   however,  I   would  not  be 
conhdered  as  failing  in  the  rcfpeft  which  is  due  to  fuch  a 
man  as  Tournejort,  who  firft  cleared   for  us   the   botanic 
path,  and  was,   befides,  a  perfon   of  profound   erudition. 
But  from  this  careleffnefs  of  the  great  Mafters,  we  may 
form  a  judgment  of  the  vague,  inaccurate,  and  incoherent 
expreflions  which  fill  the  vocabulary  of  Botany,  and  dif- 
tufe  obfcurity  over  its  defcriptions. 

After  all,  1  fhall  be  afked,  How  would  you  charafterize 
the  aggregation  of  the  flov;ers  of  the  two  plants  which 
have  jufl  been  mentioned  ?  By  referring  them  to  aggrega- 
tions fimilar  to  thofe  of  the  plants  of  our  climates.  In 
this  there  can  be  no  difficulty  :  Thus,  for  example,  we 
mi^rht  refer  the  affemblage  of  the  flowers  of  the  Grecian 
heliotrope,  to  that  of  the  French,  or  Peruvian  heliotrope  : 
And  that  of  the  flowers  of  the  Cretan  fl;achis,  to  that  of 
the  flowers  of  the  horehound,  or  of  the  pennyroyal.  To 
this  might  afterwards  be. added  the  differences  in  colour, 
fmellj  favour,  which  diverfify  the  fpecies  of  it.  There 
is  no  occafion  to  compound  foreign  terms  to  defcribe 
forms  which  are  familiar  to  lis.  Nay,  I  defy  any  one  to 
convey  by  Greek  and  Latin  words,  and  with  the  moft 
learned  turn  of  periphrafis,  the  Ample  colour  of  a  bark  of 
a  tree.  But  if  you  tell  me  it  rcfembles  that  of  an  oak  ;  I 
have  the  fliade  of  it  at  once. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  1^3 

Thefe  approximations^  of  plants  have  this  farther  utility^ 
tliat  they  prefent  us  with  the  combined  whole  of  an  un- 
known obj-eft,  with^pMt  which  we  can  form  no  determin- 
ate idea  of  it.  This  is  one  of  the  defefts  of  Botany,  it 
exhibits  the  charafters  of  vegetables  only  in  fucceffion  ; 
it  does  not  col  left  them,  it  decompounds  them.  -  It  refers 
them,  indeed,  to  a  claflical  order,  but  not  to  an  individual 
order.  This,  however,  is  the  only  one  which  the  weak- 
ncfs  of  the  human  mind  permits  us  to  catch.  We  love, 
order,  becaufe  we  are  feeble,  and  becaufe  the  leaft  confu- 
fion  difturbs  us ;  now,  there  is  no  order  which  we  can  a- 
dopt  more  eafily  than  that  which  approaches  to  an  order 
which  is  familiar  to  us,  and  which  Nature  is  every  where 
prefenting.  Try  to  defcribe  a  man,  feature  by  feature, 
limb  by  limb  ;  be  ever  fo  exaft,  yet  you  never  will  be  a- 
ble  to  give  me  his  portrait  :  But  if  you  refer  him  to  fomc 
known  per fonage  ;  if  you  teil  me,  for  example,  that  he  is 
of  the  make  and  mien  of  a  Don  Quixote  ;  or  with  a  nofe 
like  that  of  St.  Charles  Baromec,  and  fo  on,  and  you  paint 
me  his  pifture  in  four  words.  It  is  to  the  whole  of  an 
objeft  that  the  ignorant,  an  epithet  which  includes  the 
greateft  part  of  Mankind,  attach  themfelves  in  the  firfl;  in- 
(tance,  in  order  to  acquire  the  knowledge  of  it. 

It  would,  therefore,  be  of  efTential  importance  to  have, 
in  Botany,  an  alphabet  of  colours,  favours,  fmells,  forms, 
and  aggregations,  derived  from  our  moft  common  plants. 
Thofe  elementary  charafters  would  enable  us  to  exprefs 
Qurfelves  exaftly  in  all  the  parts  of  Natural  Hiftory,  and 
to  prefent  to  ourfelves  relations  equally  new  and  curious. 
In  hope  th^t  perfons  of  fupcrior  intelligence  may  here- 
after be  induced  to  take  up  the  fubjeft,  I  proceed  to  the 
difcuflion  of  it  with  what  ability  I  have,  notwithftanding 
the  embarraffment  of  language. 

When  we  fee  a  multitude  of  plants,  of  different  forms, 
vegetate  on  the  fame  foil,  there  is  a  difpofition  to  believe, 
that  thofe  of  the  fame  climate  grow  indifferently  ever); 
where.     But  thofe  only  which  are  produced  in  place?.. 


164  A  VINDICATION  OF 

particularly  afligned  to  them  by  Nature,  attain  there  all 
the  perfeclion  of  which  they  are  fufceptible.  The  fame 
thing  holds  good  with  refpeft  to  'Animals.  Goats  are 
fometjmes  reared  in  marfhy  places,  and  ducks  on  the 
mountains ;  but  the  goat  never  will  acquire,  in  Holland, 
the  beauty  of  that  which  Nature  clothes  with  filk  on  the 
rocks  of  Angora ;  nor  will  the  duck  of  Angora  ever  at- 
tain the  ftature  and  the  colours  of  thofe  which  are  to  be 
found  in  the  canals  of  Holland. 

If  we  throw  a  fimple  glance  on  plants,  we  fhall  per- 
ceive that  they  have  relations  to  the  elements  which  pro- 
mote their  growth  ;  that  they  have  relations  to  each  other, 
from  the  groups  which  they  contribute  to  form  ;  that 
they  have  relations  to  the  animals  which  derive  nourifh- 
ment  from  them  ;  and,  finally,  to  Man,  who  is  the  centre 
of  all  the  Works  of  Creation.  To  thefe  relations  I  give 
the  name  of  harmonies,  and  I  divide  them  into  elemen- 
tary, into  vegetable,  into  animal  and  into  human. 

By  propofing  this  divifion,  I  fhall  reduce  to  fomething 
like  order  the  difquifition  on  which  I  am  going  to  enter. 
It  cannot  be  fuppofed  that  I  ftiould  examine  them  in  de- 
tail :  thofe  of  a  Tingle  fpecies  would  furnifh  fpeculations, 
which  the  application  of  a  whole  life  could  not  exhauft  ;- 
but  I  (hall  unfold  enough  ot  their  general  harmonies  to 
produce  conviftlon,  that  an  infinite  Intelligence  reigns 
in  this  amiable  part  of  Creation,  as  in  the  reft  of  the  Uni- 
verfe. 

We  fhall  thus  make  application  of  the  Laws  which 
we  have  prcviouflv  eflablifhed,  and  fhall  take  a  glimpfe 
of  Li  multitude  of  others,  equally  worthy  of  refearch,  and 
equally  calculated  to  excite  admiration.  Reader,  be  not 
aftonifhed  at  either  their  number,  or  their  extent.  Let 
this  great  truth  be  deeply  irapreffed  on  thy  heart :  GOD 
has  made  nothing  in  vain  I  A  fcholar,  with  his  fyflems 
^nd  methods,  finds  himfelf  flopped  fhort  in  nature  every 
^ep  he  takes  ;  while  furniflied  with  this  as  a  key,  the  ig- 
norant mflic  is  able  to  unlock  every  door  of  knowledge. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  165 


ELEMENTARY  HARMONIES  OF  PLANTS. 


Plants  have  as  many  principal  parts  as  there  are  ele- 
ments with  which  they  keep  up  a  relation.  By  their 
flowers,  they  ftand  related  to  the  Sun,  which  fecundates 
their  feeds,  and  carries  therp  on  to  maturity;  by  their 
leaves,  they  are  related  to  the  waters,  which  bedew  them  ; 
by  their  Hems,  to  the  winds  which  agitate  them  ;  by  their 
roots,  with  the  ground  which  fuftains  them  ;  and  by  their 
grains,  with  their  fituations  adapted  to  their  growth  and 
increafe.  Not  that  thefe  principal  parts  have  no  indirc6l 
relations  befides  to  the  other  elements,  but  it  will  be  fuf- 
ficient  for  our  purpofe  to  dwell  on  fuch  as  are  immediate. 


Elementary  Harmonies  of  Plants  zvith   the  Sun,  by  the 
Flowers. 


Though  Botanifts  may  have  made  great  and  laborious 
refearches  refpefting  plants,  they  have  paid  no  attention 
to  any  of  thofe  relations.  Fettered  by  their  fyilems,  they 
have  attached  themfelves  to  the  confideration  ol  them, 
particularly  on  the  fide  of  the  flowers  :  and  have  arran- 
ged them  in  the  fame  clafs,  wherever  they  found  thefe  ex- 
ternal refemblances  without  fo  much  as  enquiring  what 
might  be  the  particular  ufe  of  the  florifi cation.  They 
have,  indeed,  diftinguifhed  in  it  the  (lamina,  the  antheras, 
and  the  fligmata,  for  tlie  fecundation  of  the  fruit,  but,  ex- 
cepting this,  and  fome  others,  which  refpe6i;  the  interior 
organization,  they  -have  negle6led,  or  mifunderllood,  the 
relations  which  the  whole  plant  has  with  the  reft  of  Nature. 

This  partial  divifion  has  led  them  into  the  flrangeft 
cppfuiion;  for,  by  confiderlng  the  flowers  as  the  princi. 


i66  A  VINDICATION   of 

pal  chara61er5  of  vegetation,  and  by  comprehending  in  the 
fame  clafs  thofe  which  were  fimilar,  they  have  united 
plants  entirely  foreign  to  each  other,  and  have  feparated, 
on  the  contrary,  many  which  are  evidently  of  the  fame 
genus.  Such  is,  in  thefirft  cafe,  the  fuller's  thiflle,  called 
ij'z^^rz^j,  which  they  clafs  with  the  fcabious,  becaufe  of 
the  refcmblance  of  fome  parts  of  its  flower;  though  it 
prefents  in  its  branches,  its  leaves,  its  fmell,  its  feed,  its 
prickles,  and  the  reft  of  its  qualities,  a  real  thiftle :  And 
fuch  is,  in  the  fecond,  the  great  chefnut  of  India,  which 
they  exclude  from  the  clafs  of  chefnut  trees,  becaufe  it 
has  different  flowers.  To  clafs  plants  from  the  flowers, 
that  is,  from  the  parts  of  their  fecundation,  is  the  fame 
thing  with  clafTmg  animals  from  thofe  of  generation. 

However,  though  they  have  referred  the  charafter  of  a 
plant  to  its  flower,  they  mifunderftand  the  ufe  of  its  mofi 
fhining  part,  which  is  that  of  the  corolla.  They  call  that 
the  corolla,  which  is,  in  common  language,  denominated 
the  leaves  of  a  flower.  It  is  a  Latin  word,  fignifying  a 
little  crown,  from  the  difpofition  of  the  leaves,  in  many 
fpecies,  in  the  form  of  coronets,  and  they  have  given  the 
name  of  petals  to  the  divifions  of  that  crown.  Some,  in 
truth,  have  acknowledged  it  to  be  properly  adapted  for 
covering  the  parts  of  fecundation  before  the  expanfion  of 
the  flower;  but  its  calix  is  much  better  adapted  to  this 
purpofe,  from  its  thicknefs,  from  its  beards,  and  fome- 
times  from  the  prickles  with  which  it  is  invelled.  Be-^ 
fides,  when  the  corolla  leaves  the  ftamina  expofed,  and 
when  it  continues  fully  blown  for  whole  weeks,  it  muft 
of  neceinty  be  anfwering  fome  other  purpofe  ;  for  Nature 
does  nothing  in  vain. 

The  corolla  feems  intended  to  reverberate  the  rays  of 
the  Sun  on  the  parts  of  fecundation;  and  we  fliall  be  put 
beyond  the  reach  of  doubt  as  to.  this,  if  we  confider  the 
colour  and  the  form  of  it  in  moft  flowers.  It  has  been 
remarked  in  the  preceding  Study,  that  of  all  colours, 
white  is  the  moll  proper  for  refle6ling  the  heat  \  Now,  it^ 


DIVINE     PROVIDENCE.  167 

is,  in  general,  that  which  Nature  beftows  on  the  floweri 
that  blow  at  cold  feafons  and  in  cold  places,  as  we  fee  is 
the  cafe  in  the  fnow  drop,  the  lily  of  the  valley,  the  hya- 
cinth, the  narciffus,  and  the  anemone  nemerofa,  which 
come  into  flower  early  in  the  Spring.  We  muft  likewife 
aflign  to  this  colour  fuch  as  have  flight  fliades  of  the  rofe 
and  of  the  azure,  as  many  hyacinths;  as  well  as  thofe 
which  have  yellow  and  fliining  tints,  as  the  flowers  of  the 
dandelion,  the  butter  flower  of  the  meadow,  and  the  wall 
gillyflower.  But  fuch  as  blow  at  warm  feafons,  and  in 
warm  fituations,  as  the  cockle,  the  wild  poppy,  and  the 
blue  bottle,  which  grow  in  Summer  amongfl;  the  corn,  are 
drefled  in  ftrong  colours,  fuch  as  purple,  deep  red,  and 
blue  ;  for  thefe  abforb  the  heat  without  greatly  reflefting  it. 

I  do  not  know,  however,  that  there  are  any  flowers  en- 
tirely black;  for  in  that  cafe,  its  petals,  defl:itute  of  al! 
power  of  refleftion,  would  be  entirely  ufelefs.  In  general, 
of  whatever  colour  a  flower  may  be,  the  under  part  of  its 
corolla,  which  reflefts  the  rays  of  the  Sun,  is  of  a  much 
paler  tint  than  the  reft.  This  is  fo  very  remarkable,  that 
Botanifts,  who  generally  confider  the  colours  of  flowers 
as  accidents  merely,  difl;inguifh  it  by  the  name  of  ungui- 
cuius  (a  little  nail.)  The  unguicle  is  that  with  relation 
to  the  flower  which  the  belly  is  with  relation  to  animals  : 
Its  fliade  is  always  clearer  than  that  of  the  refl:  of  the  petal. 

The  forms  of  flowers  are  no  lefs  adapted  than  their  col- 
ours to  refleft  the  heat.  Their  corollce,  divided  into  pe- 
tals, are  only  an  aflemblage  of  mirrors  direfted  toward 
one  focus.  Of  thefe  they  have  fometimes  four,  which  are 
plain,  as  the  flower  of  the  colewort  in  the  cruciform  ;  or 
a  complete  circle,  as  the  daify  in  the  clafs  of  radiated  ;  or 
fpherical  portions,  as  the  rofe ;  or  entire  fpheres,  as  the 
bells  ot  the  lily  of  the  valley  ;  or  cones  mutilated,  as  the 
foxglove,  the  corolla  of  which  is  formed  like  a  fewing 
thimble. 

Natur-e  has  placed,  at  the  focufes  of  thefe,  plain,  fpher- 
ical, elliptical,  parabolic^  and  other  mirrors,  the  parts  of 


i6g  A  VINDICATION  Of 

the  fecundation  of  plants,  as  fhe  has  placed  thofe  of  gener- 
ation'in  animals,  in  the  warmeil  parts  of  their  bodies. 
Hiefe  curves,  which  Geometricians  have  not  yet  examin- 
ed, merit  their  moft  profound  refearches.  Is  it  not  afton- 
idling,  that  they  fhould  have  beflowed  fuch  learned  pains 
to  find  out  curves  altogether  imaginary,  and  frequently 
ufelefs  ;  and  that  they  fliould  have  neglecled  to  lludy 
thofe  which  Nature  employs  fo  regularly,  and  in  fuch  va- 
riety, in  an  infinite  number  of  objefts  ?  Be  this  as  it  may^ 
Botanifls  have  given  themfelvcs  ftill  lefs  trouble  about 
the  matter.  They  comprehend  thofe  of  flowers  under  a 
fmall  number  of  clafTes,  without  paying  the  flighteft  at- 
tendon  to  their  ufc,  nay,  without  fo  much  as  apprehend- 
ing that  they  could  have  any.  They  confine  themfelves 
entirely  to  the  divifion  of  their  petals,  which  frequently 
change  nothing  of  the  configuration  of  their  curves  ;  and 
they  frequently  clafs  under  the  fame  name  thofe  which  are 
the  mofl  oppofite.  Thus,  under  the  general  defignation 
of  the  7nonopetaloiis,  (thofe  that  have  a  fingle  petal)  they 
include  the  fpheroid  of  the  lily  of  the  valley,  and  the 
trumpet  of  the  convolvulus. 

On  this  fubjeft,  a  very  remarkable  circumftance  claims 
our  notice  ;  namely,  that,  frequently,  fuch  as  is  the  curve 
formed  by  the  border,  or  upper  extremity  of  the  petals 
fuch  too  is  the  plan  of  the  whole  petal  itfelf ;  fo  that  Na- 
ture prefents  to  us  the  cut  or  fhape  of  each  flower  in  the 
contour  of  its  petals,  and  gives  us  at  once,  its  plan  and 
its  elevation.  Thus  rofes,  and  the  whole  tribe  bearing 
this  denomination,  have  the  border  of  their  petals  in 
feftions  of  a  circle,  like  the  curve  of  the  flowers  them- 
felves ;  the  pink  and  blue  bottle,  which  have  their  fel- 
vnge  notched,  prcfcnt  the  plans  of  their  flowers  plait- 
ed up  like  fans,  and  form  a  multitude  ot  focufes. 

For  want  of  the  real  flower,  thefe  curious  remarks  may 
be  verified  from  the  drawings  of  Painters  who  have  been 
the  moft  exaft  in  copying  plants,  but  who  arc  indeed  very 
few  in  number.     Such  is,  among  thofe  few,  AiibnH,  whc 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  169 

h'as  drawn  the  plants  of  Toiirnefort^  voyage  to  the  Levant, "^^ 
with  the  tafte  of  a  Painter,  and  the  precifion  of  a  Botanift. 
You  may  there  fee  the  confirmation  of  what  I  have  juft 
been  advancing.  For  example,  tht  Jcorzonera  GrcEcafax- 
atilis  &  7nanti?na  foliis  vane  laciniatis,  (the  Greek  fax- 
atile  and  marine  fcorzonera,  with  leaves  varioufly  fcoUop- 
edj  which  is  there  reprefented,  as  its  petals,  or  half  flow- 
ers, fquared  at  the  extremity,  and  plane  in  their  furfacc. 
The  flower  of  the  Jiachis  Cretica  latifolia,  (the  broad  leav- 
ed fl:achis  of  Crete)  which  is  a  monopetalous  tubular  plant, 
has  the  upper  part  of  its  corolla  undulated,  as  well  as  its 
tube.  The  campanula  Graca  faxatilis  jacobecR foliis ,  (the 
Greek  bell  flower  of  the  rocks,  with  ragwort  leaves)  pre- 
fents  thefe  confonances  in  a  manner  fliill  more  fl;rikingi 
This  campanula,  which  Tournefort  conflders  as  the  mofl: 
beautiful  he  had  ever  feen,  and  which  he  fowed  in  the 
Royal  Garden  at  Paris,  where  it  fucceeded  very  well,  is 
of  the  pentagonal  form.  Each  of  its  faces  is  formed  of 
two  portions  of  a  circle,  the  focufes  of  which,  undoubted- 
Jy,  meet  on  the  fame  anthera ;  and  the  border  of  this  cam- 
panula is  notched  into  five  parts,  each  of  which  is  like- 
wife  cut  into  the  form  of  a  Gothic  arch,  as  each  fubdivi- 
fion  of  the  flower  is.  Thus,  in  order  to  know,  at  once, 
the  curve  of  a  flower,  it  is  fufficient  to  examine  the  brim 
of  its  petal. 

It  is  of  much  utility  to  attend  to  this  obfervation,  for 
otherwife  it  would  be  extremely  difficult  to  determine  the 
focufes  of  the  petals.  Befides,  flowers  lofe  their  internal 
curves  in  berberies.  I  believe  thefe  confonances  to  be 
general  ;  I  prefume  not  however,  to  aflert,  that  they  ad^ 
mit  of  no  exceptions.  Nature  may  deviate  from  this  or- 
der, in  fome  fpecies,  for  reafons  which  I  know  not.  It 
cannot  be  too  frequently  repeated  ;  She  has  no  general 
and  unvarying  Law,  except  the  accommodation  of  beings 
endowed  with  fenfibility.     The  relations  juft  now  fnggefl' 

*   Tcurn'fviVi  Voyage  tn  ilif.  Leviht.  vol.  :. 
VOL,     H.  X 


ijo  A  VINDICATION  of 

ed,  between  the  curve  of  the  brim  and  that  of  the  pefaJ^ 
feem,  befide,  to  be  founded  on  this  univerfal  Law^  as  they 
prefent  conformities  of  fuch  agreeable  approximation. 

The  petals  appear  to  fuch  a  degree  d^ftined  to  warm- 
the  parts  of  fecundation,  that  Nature  has  placed  a  circle  of 
them  around  moft  compound  flov/ers,  which  are  themfelves 
aggregations  of  fmall  tubes,  infinite  in  number,  that  form 
fo  many  particular  flowers,  or,  if  you  will,  flowrets.  This 
is  obvioully  remarkable  in  the  petals  which  furround  the 
difks  of  daifies  and  funflo^vers.  They  are  likewife  to  be 
met  with  around  moft  of  the  umbelliferous  plants  : 
Thouo-h  each  flowret,  which  compofes  them,  has  its  par- 
ticular petals,  there  is  a  circle  of  others  ftill  greater,  which 
encompafTes  their  aflemblage,  as  you  may  fee  in  the  flow- 
ers of  the  daucus. 

Nature  has  ftill  other  means  of  multiplying  the  reflexes 
of  heat  in  flowers.  Sometimes  fhc  places  them  on  ftem» 
of  no  great  elevation,  in  order  to  colleft  warmth  from  the 
reflections  of  the  Earth  ;  fometimes  fiie  glazes  over  their 
corollac  with  a  fliining  varnifli,  as  the  yellow  meadow 
ranunculus,  known  by  the  trivial  name  of  butter  flower. 
Sometimes  flie  withdraws  the  corolla,  and  makes  the  parts 
of  fecundation  to  flioot  from  the  partition  of  an  ear,  of  a 
cone,  or  of  the  branch  of  a  tree.  The  forms  of  the  fpike, 
and  of  the  cone,  appear  to  be  the  heft  adapted  for  reverbe- 
rating on  them  the  aftion  of  the  Sun,  and  to  enfure  their 
fruclification  ;  for  they  always  prefent  fome  one  fide  or 
another  flickered  from  the  cold.  Nay,  it  is  very  remark- 
able, that  the  aggregation  of  flowers,  in  a  conical  and  fpike 
form,  is  very  common  to  herbs  and  to  trees  of  the  North, 
and  rarely  to  be  found  in  thofc  of  the  S^uth.  Moft  of 
the  gramineous  plants  which  I  have  feen  in  fouthern 
Countries,  do  not  carry  their  grains  in  a  fpike,  or  clofcly 
compacted  ear,  but  in  flowing  tufts,  and  divided  into  a 
multitude  of  particular  ftems,  as  the  millet  and  rice.  The 
maize,  or  Turkey  corn,  I  admit,  bears  its  grains  in  a  large 
tar  ;  but  that  ear   is  for  a  conflderable  time  flnit  up  m  a 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE. 


171 


f^ag ;  and  on  burfting  from  it,  pufhes  away  over  its  head 
a  long  covering  of  hair,  which  feems  entirely  deftined  to 
the  purpofe  of  fheltering  its  flowers  from  the  heat  of  the 
Sun. 

Finally,  what  confirms  me  in  the  belief,  that  the  flowers 
of  plants  are  adapted  to  the  aclion  of  heat,  conformably 
to  the  nature  of  every  climate,  is  this,  that  many  ot  our 
European  plants  vegetate  extremely  well  in  the  Antilles 
Iflands,  but  never  come  to  feed  there.  Father  du  Tertre 
obferved,  that  in  thofe  iflands,*  the  cabbage,  the  fainfoin, 
the  lucern,  the  favory,  the  fweetbafil,  the  nettle,  the  plan- 
tain, the  wormwood,  thefage,  the  liverwort,  the  amaranth, 
and  all  our  fpecies  of  gramineous  plants,  throve  there  won- 
derfully well,  but  never  produced  grains.  Thefe  obfer- 
vations  demonfl:rate,  that  it  is  neither  the  air,  nor  the  foil, 
which  is  inimical  to  them  ;  but  the  Sun,  which  aft s  with 
too  much  vivacity  on  their  flowers,  for  moft  of  thefe 
plants  have  theirs  aggregated  into  an  ear,  which  greatly 
increafes  the  repercuflion  of  the  folar  rays. 

I  believe,  at  the  fame  time,  that  luch  plants  might  be 
naturalized  in  the  Wefl:india  Iflands,  as  well  as  many  oth- 
ers of  our  temperate  climates,  by  felefting  from  the  varie- 
ties of  their  fpecies,  thofe  whofe  fl.owers  have  the  fmaliefl: 
fields,  and  whofe  colours  are  the  deepefl:,  or  thofe  whofe 
pannicles  are  divergent. 

Not  that  Nature  has  no  other  refources  except  fuch  as 
thefe,  to  make  plants  of  the  fame  genus  attain  perfeftion 
in  different  feafons  and  climates.  She  can  render  their 
flowers  capable  of  reflefting  the  heat,  in  different  degrees 
of  Latitude,  without  any  very  fenfible  alteration  ot  the 
form.  Sometimes  flie  mounts  them  on  elevated  fl;ems,  to 
remove  them  from  the  influence  of  the  refleftion  of  the 
ground.  It  is  thus  fhe  has  placed,  between  the  Tropics, 
mofl:  of  the  apparent  flowers  upon  trees.  I  have  feen  but 
few  there  in  the  meadows,  but  a  great  many  in  the  forefl;s. 

*  Natural  Hiflory  of  ihc  Antilles,  by  Father  du  Tcrtr:. 


172  A  VINDICATION  of 

In  thofc  countries,  you  muft  look  aloft,  in  order  to  have 
a  fignt  of  flowers  ;  in  our  native  climes,  wcmuft  call  our 
eyes  on  the  ground,  for  this  purpofe  ;  for  with  us  flowers 
grow  on  herbage  and  fhrubbery.  Sometimes  flie  expands 
them  under  the  fliade  of  leaves  ;  fuch  are  thofe  of  the 
palm  tree,  of  the  banana,  and  of  the  jacquier,  which  grow 
clofe  to  the  trunk  of  the  tree.  Such,  likewife,  are,  in  our 
temperate  climates,  thofe  large  white  bell  formed  flowers, 
known  by  the  name  of  Lady's  fmock,  which  delight  in 
the  fliade  of  the  willow. 

There  are  others,  fuch  as  moil  part  of  the  convolvolufes, 
which  expand  only  in  the  night ;  others  grow  clofe  to  the 
ground,  and  expofed,  as  the  panfy,  but  their  drapery  is 
daflcy  and  velveted.  There  are  fome  which  receive  the 
aftion  of  the  Sun  when  at  a  confiderable  height,  as  the  tu- 
lip ;  but  Nature  has  taken  her  precautions  fo  exaftly,  as 
to  bring  out  this  ftately  flower  only  in  the  Spring,  to 
pamt  its  petals  with  ftrong  colours,  and  to  daub  the  bot- 
tom of  its  cup  with  black.*     Others  aredifpofed  in  giran- 

*  This  flower,  from  its  colour,  is.  in  Pcrfia,  the  emblem  of  perfed  lov- 
ers. Chardin  tells  us,  that,  when  a  young  Perfian  prefents  a  tulip  to  his 
miftrefs,  it  is  his  intention  to  convey  to  her  this  idea,  that,  like  this  flower, 
he  has  a  countenance  all  on  fire,  and  a  heart  reduced  to  a  coal.  There  is  no 
one  Work  of  Nature,  but  what  awakens  in  man  fome  moral  affcftion. 
The  habits  of  fociety  infcufibly  efface,  at  length,  the  fentinient  of  it  ;  but 
we  always  find  it  in  vigor  among  Nations  who  flill  live  near  to  Nature. 

Many  alphabets  have  been  imagined  in  China,  in  the  earlier  ages,  after 
the  wings  of  birds,  Hihes,  fiiells  and  flowers  ;  Of  thefc,  very  curious  char- 
aftcrs  may  be  feen  in  the  China  illuflrated  of  Father  Kerchcr.  It  is  from 
the  influence  of  thofe  natural  manners,  that  the  Orientals  employ  fo  many 
fimilitudes  and  comparifons  in  their  languages.  Though  our  metaphyfical 
eloquence  makes  no  great  ufe  of  them,  they  frequently  produce,  neverthe- 
]efs,  a  very  ftriking  efFeft.  J.  J.  Roujjeau  has  taken  notice  of  that  which 
the  Ambaffador  of  the  Scythians  propofed  to  Darius,  Without  fpeaking  a, 
\vord,  he  prcfented  him  with  a  bird,  a  frog,  a  moufe  and  five  arrows.f 
Herodotus  relates,  that  the  fame  Darius  fent  word  to  the  Greeks  of  Ionia, 

•f  Darius,  at  firfl,  underflood  this  as  a  complete  fuircr.drr  of  Scythian  independence  in- 
to his  hands  ;  but  the  event  inftrufclcd  him,  that  tliis  high  fpirited  people  intended  to  con. 
vcj- a  bold  defiance  :  "  Unlefs  youcan  fly  as  abiid,  dig  asa  moufe,  fwim  ai  a  frog,  oiu  at- 
"  rovvi  fliall  i.wcn  yon."  H.  il. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  17^ 

iloles,  and  receive  the  efie8;  of  the  folar  rays  only  under 
one  point  of  the  compafs.  Such  is  the  girandole  of  the 
lilach,  which  pointing  with  various  afpefts,  to  the  Eait, 
to  the  South,  to  the  Weft  and  to  the  North,  prefents,  on 
the  fame  clufter,  flowers  in  bud,  half  open,  fully  blown, 
fadino-,  and  all   the  delightful  fhades  of  the  florification. 

There  are  flowers,  fuch  as  the  compound,  which  being 
in  a  horizontal  pofition,  and  completely  expofed,  behold 
the  Sun,  like  the  Horizon  itfelf,  from  his.  rifmg  to  his  fet^ 
ting  ;  of  this  defcription  is  the  flower  of  the  dandelion. 
But  it  poflefl'es  very  peculiar  means  of  flieltering  itfelf 
from  the  heat  :  It  clofes  entirely  whenever  the  heat  be- 
comes exceflive.  It  has  been  obferved  to  open,  in  Sum- 
mer, at  half  an  hour  after  five  in  the  morning,  and  to  col- 
le6l  its  petals  toward  the  centre,  about  nine  o'clock.  The 
flower  of  the  garden  lettuce,  which  is,  on  the  contrary,  in 
a  vertical  plane,  opens  at  feven  o'clock,  and  fiiuts  at  ten. 

From  a  ferics  of  fimilar  obferyations  it  was,  that  the 
celebrated  Linnaus  had  formed  a  botanical  time  piece; 
for  he  had  found  plants  which  opened  their  flowers  at  ev- 
ery hour  of  the  day,  and  of  the  night.  There  is  cultivat- 
ed in  the  King's  Garden,  at  Paris,  a  fpecies  of  ferpentine 
aloes,  without  prickles,  whofe  large  and  beautiful  flower 
exhales  a  ftrong  odour  of  the  vanilla,  during  the  time  of 
its  expanfion,  which  is  very  fliort.  It  does  not  blow  lili 
toward  the  month  of  July,  and  about  five  o'clock  in  the 
evening  ;  You  then  perceive  it  gradually  open  its  petals, 
expand  them,  fade  and  die.  By  ten  o'clock  of  the  fame 
night,  it  is  totally  withered,  to  the  great  aftonifhment  of 
the  fpe61ators,  who  flock  in  crowds  to  the  fight  ;  for  what 

u'ho  were  laying  wafte  the  country,  that  if  ihey  did  not  give  over  their  dc.^ 
predations,  he  would  treat  them  like  pines.  The  Greeks,  who  by  this 
time  had  become  infefted  with  wit,  and  had  proportionally  begun  to  lofe 
fight  of  Nature,  did  not  comprehend  the  meaning  of  this.  Upon  enquiry, 
they  at  length  difcovcred  that  Darius  meant  they  fhould  underftand  it  to  be 
His  refolution  utterly  to  exterminate  them  ;  for  the  pine  tfte,  pnpe  cul! 
4own,  fljoois  out  again  no  more. 


174  A  VINDICATION  of 

is  uncommon  is  alone  admired.  The  flower  of  our  com- 
mon thorn,  I  do  not  mean  that  of  the  white  thorn,  is  flill 
more  extraordinary  ;  for  it  flowers  fo  rapidly,  that  there 
is  fcarce  time  to  obferve  its  expanfion. 

Thefe  obfervations,  taken  in  their  connexion,  clearly 
demonflrate  the  relations  of  the  corollae  to  the  heat  of  the 
Sun.  To  all  thofe  which  have  gone  before,  I  fhall  fub- 
join  one  more,  by  way  of  conclufion,  which  evidently 
proves  the  ufe  for  which  they  are  intended  ;  it  is  this, 
The  duration  of  their  exiftence  is  regulated  by  the  quan- 
tity of  heat  which  it  is  their  deftination  to  colleft.  The 
hotter  it  is,  the  fliorter  is  their  duration.  They  almoft  all 
drop  off  as  foon  as   the  plant  is  fecundated. 

But  if  Nature  withdraws  the  greateft  number  of  flowers 
from  the  too  violent  a6tion  of  the  Sun,  flie  deftines  others 
to  appear  in  all  the  luftre  of  his  rays,  without  fuftaining 
the  leaft  injury  from  them.  On  the  firft  flie  beftows 
dufl<^y  refleftors,  or  fuch  as  can  clofe  themfelves  as  occa- 
fion  requires  ;  flie  provides  others  with  parafols.  Such 
is  the  crown  imperial,  whofe  flowers,  like  a  bell  inverted, 
grow  under  the  fliade  of  a  tuft  of  leaves.  The  chryfanthe- 
mum  peruvianum,  or  to  employ  a  better  known  term,  the 
turnfol,  which  turns  continually  toward  the  Sun,  covers 
itfelf,  like  Peru,  the  country  from  which  it  comes,  with 
dewy  clouds,  which  cool  and  refrefli  its  flowers,  during 
the  moft  violent  heat  of  the  day.  The  white  flower  of 
the  lychnis,  which  blows  in  our  fields,  in  Summer,  and 
prefents,  at  a  diftance,  the  refemblance  of  a  Maltefe  crofs, 
has  a  fpecies  of  contraction,  or  narrow  collar,  placed  at  its 
centre.  To  that  its  large  fhining  petals  turned  back  out- 
wardly, do  not  aft  upon  its  flamina.  The  white  narcifl'us 
has,  in  like  manner,  a  fmall  tunnel.  But  Nature  fl;ands 
in  no  need  to  create  new  parts,  in  order  to  communicate 
new  charafters  to  her  Works.  She  deduces  them,  at 
once,  from  exiftence  and  from  nonexiftence  ;  and  renders 
them  politive,  or  negative,  at  her  plcafure.  She  has  given 
curves  to  mofl  flowers,   for  the  puipofe  of  collefting  the 


Jl.k    un.,,,^1     /'fa. 


DIVINE    PROVIDENCE.  175 

heat  at  their  centre  :  She  employs  the  fame  curves,  when 
fhe  thinks  proper,  in  order  to  diflipate  the  heat  ;'  She 
places  the  focufes  of  them  fo  as  to  zEt  outwardly.  It  is 
thus  that  the  petals  of  the  lily  are  difpofed,  which  are  fo 
many  feftions  of  the  parabola.  Notwithftanding  the  large 
(ize  and  the  whitenefs  of  its  cup,  the  more  it  expands,  the 
more  it  difperfes  the  fervent  heat  of  the  Sun  ;  and  while, 
in  the  middle  of  Summer,  at  noon  day,  all  other  flowers, 
parched  by  his  burning  rays,  droop  and  bend  their  heads 
to  the  ground,  the  lily  rears  his  head  like  a  king,  and  con- 
templates, face  to  face,  the  dazzling  orb,  which  is  travel- 
ling majeftically  through  the  Heavens. 

I  proceed  to  difplay,  in  a  few  words,  the  pofitive,  or 
negative,  relations  of  flowers,  with  refpeft  to  the  Sun,  to 
the  five  elementary  forms  which  I  have  laid  down,  in  the 
preceding;  Study,  as  the  principles  of  the  harmony  of  bod- 
ies. This  is  not  fo  much  a  plan  which  I  take  upon  me 
to  prefcribe  to  Botaniflis  as  an  invitation  to  engage  in  a  ca- 
reer fo  rich  in  obfervations,  and  to  correft  my  errors  by 
communicating  fome  portion  of  their  knowledge. 

There  are,  therefore,  reverberating  flowers  perpeiidicu* 
lar,  conical,  fpherical,  elliptical,  parabolic,  or  plane.  To 
thefe  curves  may  be  referred  moft  of  the  curves  of  flow- 
ers. There  are,  likewife,  fome  flowers  in  form  of  a  para- 
fol,  but  the  others  are  much  more  numerous  ;  for  the  neg- 
ative effe6ls,  in  every  harmony,  are  in  much  greater  num- 
ber than  the  pofitive  effefts.  For  example,  there  is  but 
one  fingle  way  of  coming  into  life,  and  there  are  thoufands 
of  going  out  of  it.  -We  fliall  oppofe,  however,  to  every 
pofitive  relation  of  flowers  to  the  Sun,  a  principal  nega- 
tive relation,  that  we  may  be  enabled  to  compare  their  ef- 
fefts  in  every  Latitude. 

Perpendicular  reverberating  flowers  are  thofe 
w^hich  grow  adhering  by  the  back  to  a  cone,  to  long  cat- 
kins, or  to  an  ear  :  Such  are  thofe  of  the  cedar,  of  the 
larch,  of  the  fir,  of  the  birch,  of  the  juniper  ;  of  mofl:  of 
the  northern  gramineous  plants,  of  the  vegetables  of  cold 


i;6  A  VINDICATION  of 

and  iofty  mountains,  as  the  cyprefs  and  the  pine  ;  or  of 
thofe  ^vhich  flower  in  our  climates  about  the  end  of  Win- 
ter, as  the  hazel  and  the  willow.  A  part  of  the  flowers 
in  this  pofition  is  Ihcltered  from  the  North  wind,  and  re- 
ceives the  reflection  of  the  Sun  from  the  South  fide. 

It  is  remarkable  that  all  vegetables  vrhich  bear  cones, 
catkins,  or  fpikes,  prefent  them  at  the  extremity  of  their 
items,  expofed  to  all  the  aftion  of  the  Sun.  It  is  not  fo 
with  thofe  which  grow  within  the  Tropics  ;  mofl  of  which, 
fucli  as  the  palm  tree,  bear  divergent  flowers,  attached  to 
pendent  cluiters,  and  ihaded  by  their  branches.  The 
greatell  part  of  the  gramineous  plants  of  warm  countries, 
have  likewife  divergent  ears  ;  fuch  are  the  millets  ot  Af- 
rica. The  folid  ear  of  the  American  maize  is  crowned 
with  a  hairv  tuft  which  fhe Iters  its  flowers  from  the  Sun. 
On  the  annexed  plate  are  reprefented  an  ear  of  European 
corn,  and  an  ear  ot  the  rice  ot  fouthern  Afia,  to  furnifh 
the  means  ot  comparifon. 

Conical  reverberating  flowers  refleft  on  the  parts  oi 
fiorlfication  a  complete  cone  ot  light.  Its  aftion  is  very 
powerful  ;  and  it  is,  accordingly,  very  remarkable,  that 
Nature  has  given  this  configuration  of  petal  only  to  flow- 
ers, which  grow  under  the  Ihade  of  trees,  as  to  the  con- 
volvulus, which  fcrambles  up  around  their  trunk  ;  and 
that  file  has  alTigned  to  this  flower  a  very  tranfient  dura- 
tion, for  it  fcarcely  lafls  halt  a  day  ;  and  when  its  fecun- 
dation is  completed,  the  border  contracts  inwardly, 
and  gathers  together  like  a  purfe.  Nature  has,  however, 
given  it  a  place  in  fouthern  latitudes,  but  flie  has  there 
linged  it  with  violet  and  blue,  in  order  to  weaken  the  ef- 
fe6t.  Berides,tliis  flower  fcarcely  ever  opens  in  hot  coun- 
tries, except  in  the  night.  From  this  nofturnal  chara6ter, 
I  preuime,  it  is,  that  we  are  chiefly  enabled  to  diftinguifh 
the  convolvulus  of  the  South,  from  that  of  our  own  cli- 
mates, which  blows  in  the  day  time.  In  the  plate  we 
liave  reprefented  the  day  convolvulus,  or  .that  which  is 
native  with  us  expanded  ;  and  tliat  of  the  night,  or  (>f  hot 


DIVINE    PROVIDENCE.  J7-, 

countries,   clofed;    the  one  having  a  pofitive  charafter 
with  the  light,  and  the  other  a  negative  charafter. 

The  flowers  which  partake  the  moft  of  this  conical 
form  are  thofe  which  grow  early  in  the  Spring,  as  the 
flower  of  the  arum,  which  is  formed  like  a  cornet;  or 
thofe  which  thrive  on  lofty  mountains,  as  the  bears  ear  of 
the  Alps.  When  Nature  employs  it  in  Summer,  it  is  al- 
moft  always  with  negative  charafters,  as  in  the  flowers  of 
the  foxglove,  which  are  inclined,  and  died  a  deep  red,  or 
blue  colour. 

Spherical  reverberating  flowers,  aie  thofe  whofe  pet- 
als are  formed  into  fegments  of  a  circle.  One  might  a- 
mufe  himfelf  very  agreeably,  inobfervingthat  thefe  fpher- 
ically  formed  petals  have,  at  their  focufesj  the  antherae  of 
the  flower  fupported  on  fibrets,  longer  or  fliorter,  as  the 
cffeft  intended  may  require.  It  deferves  farther  to  be  re- 
marked, that  each  petal  is  adapted  to  its  particular  anthera, 
foraetimes  to  two,  or  even  to  three  :  So  that  the  number 
of  petals  in  a  flower  divides,  almoft  always,  exaftly  that 
of  the  antherae.  As  to  the  petals,  they  fcarcely  ever  ex- 
ceed the  number  of  five,  in  rofe  formed  flowers,  as  if  Na- 
ture had  defigned  to  exprefs,  in  that,  the  number  of  the 
five  terms  of  elementary  progreflion,  of  which  this  beauti- 
ful form  is  the  harmonic  expreflfion. 

Spherical  reverberating  flowers  are  very  common  in  our 
temperate  climates.  They  do  not  throw  back  the  whole 
refleftion  of  their  diflcs  on  the  antherae,  like  the  convolv- 
ulus, but  only  the  fifth  part,  becaufe  each  of  their  petals' 
has  its  particular  focus.  The  rofe  formed  flower  is  fpread 
over  moft  fruit  trees,  as  the  apple,  the  pear,  the  peach,  the 
plum,  the  apricot,  and  the  like ;  and  over  a  great  part  of 
our  flirubbery  and  herbage,  fuch  as  the  black  and  white 
thorn,  the  bramble,  the  anemone,  and  many  others,  mofl: 
of  which  produce  for  Man  a  nutritious  fruit,  and  which 
flower  in  the  month  of  May.  To  this  form  may  be  like- 
wife  referred  fuch  as  are  fpheroidal ;  the  lily  of  the  valley, 
for  example. 

VOL.   II,  Y 


i;8  A  VINDICATION  of 

This  form,  which  is  the  harmonic  exprefllon  of  the  five 
elementary  forms,  was  admirably  adapted  to  a  temperature 
like  ours,  which  is  itfelf  the  proportional  medium  between 
that  of  the  Icy  and  of  the  Tomd  Zone.  As  fpherical  re- 
fl'eftors  colleft  a  great  quantity  of  rays  at  their  focufes, 
their  aft  ion  is  very  powerful,  but,  at  the  fame  time,  of 
Very  tranfient  duration.  It  is  well  known  that  nothing 
fades  more  quickly  than  a  rofe. 

Rofe  formed  flowers  are  very  rare  between  the  Tropics, 
efpecially  thofe  whofe  petals  are  white.  They  thrive  only 
under  the  fliade  of  trees.  I  have  known  many  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  Ifle  of  France  make  fruitlefs  efforts  to 
raife  ftrawberries  there ;  but  one  of  them,  who  lived,  in- 
deed, in  an  elevated  part  of  the  Ifland,  found  means  of  pro- 
curing them  in  great  plenty,  by  planting  his  beds  under 
trees,  in  ground  but  half  cleared. 

As  a  compenfation  for  this,  Nature  'has.  multiplied,  in 
warm  countries,  papilionaceous,  or  leguminous  flowers. 
The  leguminous  flower  is  entirely  oppofite  to  the  rofe 
formed.  It  ufually  has  five  rounded  petals,  like  the  other : 
But  inflead  of  being  difpofed  round  the  centre  of  the  flow- 
er, in  order  to  reverberate  thither  the  rays  of  the  Sun,  they 
are,  on  the  contrary,  folded  inward,  around  the  antherae, 
for  the  purpofe  of  fheltering  them.  You  diflinguiih  in 
them,  a  pavilion,  two  wings,  and  a  ridge,  ufually  divided 
into  two,  by  which  the  antherae  and  the  embryon  of  the 
fruit  are  clofely  covered  over.  Between  the  Tropics,  ac- 
cordingly, a  great  number  of  trees,  fhrubs,  creepers  and 
grafTes,  have  papilionaceous  flowers.  Every  fpecies  of 
otir  peafe  and  French  beans,  fucceed  there  wonderfully 
well,  and  thofe  countries  produce  infinite  varieties  of  them. 
Nay,  it  is  remarkable,  that  even  at  home,  thofe  plants  de- 
light in  a  fandy  and  warm  foil,  and  exhibit  their  flowers 
in  the  middle  of  Summer.  I  confider  leguminous  flow- 
ers, therefore,  as  of  the  parafol  kind.  To  thofe  fame  neg- 
ative effcfts  of  the  Sun  may,  likewife,  be  referred  the  form 
«f  flowers  with  gullets,  which  conceal  their  antherjc,  fuck 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  ijg 

as  the  calfs  fnout,  which  takes  pleafure  in  blowing  on  the 
fides  of  walls. 

Elliptical  reverberating  flowers  are  thofe  which 
prefent  oval  formed  cups,  narrower  at  top  than  in  the 
middle.  It  is  very  perceptible  that  this  form  of  cup,  the 
perpendicular  petals  of  which  approach  toward  each  odier 
at  the  fummit,  fhelters,  in  part,  the  bottom  of  the  flower  : 
And  that  the  curves  of  thefe  fame  petals,  which  have  fcv- 
cral  focufes,  do  not  colle6l;  the  rays  of  the  Sun  toward  one 
fmgle  centre  :  Such  is  the  tulip.  It  is  remarkable,  that  this 
oblong  formed  flower  is  more  common  in  warm  countries 
than  the  rofe  formed.  The  tulip  grows  fpontaneoufly  in 
the  vicinity  of  Conftantinople.  To  this  form  may  like- 
wife  be  referred  that  of  the  liliaceous,  which  are  more 
common  there  than  elfewhere.  However,  when  Nature 
employs  them  in  countries  ftill  farther  to  the  South,  or  in 
the  middle  of  Summer,  it  is  almoft  always  with  negative 
charafters ;  thus,  flie  has  inverted  the  tulip  form  flowers 
of  the  imperial,  which  is  originally  from  Perfia,  and  has 
(haded  them  with  a  tuft  of  foliage.  Thus,  flie  bends  back 
outwardly,  in  our  climates,  the  petals  of  the  lily  ;  but  the 
fpecies  of  white  lilies  which  grow  between  the  tropics, 
have,  befides,  their  petals  cut  out  into  thongs. 

Flowers  with  parabolic,  or  plane,  mirrors,  are 
thofe  which  refleft  the  rays  of  the  Sun  in  parallel  direc- 
tions. The  configuration  of  the  firft  gives  much  luftre 
to  the  corolla  of  thefe  flowers,  which  emit  from  their  bo- 
fom,  if  I  may  be  allowed  the  expreflion,  a  bundle  of  light, 
for  they  colleft  it  toward  the  bottom  of  their  corolla,  and 
not  on  the  antherae.  It  is,  perhaps,  in  order  to  weaken 
the  aftion  of  it,  that  Nature  has  terminated  flowers  of  this 
iorm  in  a  fpecies  of  cowl,  which  Botanifts  call  fpur.  It 
is  probably  in  this  tube  that  the  focus  of  their  parabola 
terminates,  which  is,  perhaps,  fituated  there,  as  in  many 
curves  of  this  kind,  beyond  its  fummit.  Flowers  of  this 
fort  are  frequent  between  the  Tropics  ;  fuch  is  the  flower 
©I  the  poincilkde  of  the  Antilles,  ofeherwife  called  the 


^8o  A  VINDICATION  of 

peacock  flower,  on  account  of  its  beauty  ;  fuch  is  alfo  the 
najlurtium,  or  nun  of  Peru.  It  is  even  pretended  that  the 
perennial  fpecies  is  phofphoric  in  the  night  time. 

Flowers  with  plane  mirrors  produce  the  fame  efFefts ; 
and  Nature  has  multiplied  the  models  of  them  in  our 
Summer  flowers,  and  in  thofe  which  thrive  in  warm  and 
fandy  foils,  as  the  radiated  ;  fuch  are  the  flowers  of  the 
dandelion.  We  likewife  meet  with  them  in  the  flowers 
ol  the  doronicum,  of  the  lettuce,  of  the  fuccory  ;  in  the 
afl;ers,  in  the  meadow  daify  and  others.  But  flie  has  plac- 
ed the  original  model  of  them  under  the  Line,  in  Amer- 
ica, in  the  broad  Sun  flower,  which  we  have  borrowed 
from  Brafil. 

Thefe  being  flowers  whofe  petals  have  the  leaft  aftivi- 
ty,  are  likewife  thofe  which  are  of  the  longefl;  duration. 
Their  attitudes  are  varied  without  end.  Such  as  are  hor- 
izontal, like  thofe  of  the  dandelion,  clofe,  it  is  faid,  to- 
ward the  middle  of  the  day ;  they  are,  likewife,  fuch  as 
are  the  mofl  expofed  to  the  a6lion  of  the  Sun,  for  they  re- 
ceive his  rays  from  his  rifing  to  his  fetting. 

There  are  others  which,  infl:ead  of  clofing  their  petals, 
invert  them,  which  produces  nearly  the  fame  effeft;  fuch 
is  the  flower  of  the  camomile.  Others  are  perpendicular 
to  the  Horizon,  as  the  flower  of  Lettuce.  The  blue  col- 
our, with  which  it  is  tinged,  contributes,  farther,  towards 
weakening  the  rays  of  the  Sun,  which,  in  this  afpeft, 
would  aft  too  vehemently  upon  it.  Others  have  only 
four  horizontal  petals  ;  fuch  as  the  cruci  form  ;  the  fpe- 
cies of  which  are  very  common  in  hot  countries.  Oth- 
ers bear,  around  their  difl^,  flowrets  which  overfliadow  it ; 
fuch  is  the  blue  bottle  of  the  corn  field,  which  is  repre- 
fented  on  the  plate  in  oppofition  to  the  daify.  This  laft 
flowers  early  in  the  Spring,  and  the  other  in  the  middle  of 
Summer. 

We  have  faid  fomewhat  of  the  general  forms  of  flow- 
ers, but  we  fhould  never  come  to  a  conclufion,  were  we 
to  enter  into  a  difculTion  of  their  various  aggregations.     I 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  181 

believe,  however,  that  they  may  be  refened  to  the  plan 
itfelf  of  the  flowers.  Thus  the  umbelliterous  flowers  pre- 
fent  themfelves  to  the  Suii  under  the  fame  afpefts  as  the 
radiated. 

I  mufl;  beg  leave  to  recapitulate  only  what  has  been  fald 
refpefting  their  refle6ling  mirrors.  The  reverberated  per- 
pendicular, of  a  cone  or  ear  form,  colle6fs  on  the  antheric 
of  the  flowers,  an  arch  of  light  of  ninety  degrees,  from  the 
Zenith  to  the  Horizon.  It  farther  prefents,  in  the  ine- 
quality of  its  panels,  reflefting  furfaces. 

The  conical  refleftor  collefts  a  cone  of  light  of  fixty 
degrees.  The  fpherical  refleftor  unites,  in  each  of  its  five 
petals,  an  arch  of  light  ot  thirtyfix  degrees  of  the  Sun's 
courfe,  fuppofing  that  Luminary  to  be  in  the  Equator. 

The  elliptical  refleftor  collefts  a  fmaller  quantity,  from 
the  perpendicular  pofition  of  its  petals  ;  and  the  parabolie 
refleftor,  as  well  as  that  with  plane  mirrors,  fends  back 
the  rays  of  the  Sun  divergently,  or  in  parallels. 

The  firfi;  form  appears  to  be  very  common  in  the  flow- 
ers of  the  icy  Zones  ;  the  fecond,  in  thofe  which  thrive 
under  the  fliade ;  the  third,  in  temperate  latitudes ;  the 
jfourth,  in  warm  countries ;  and  the  fifth,  in  the  Torrid 
Zone.  It  would  likewife  appear,  that  Nature  multiplies 
the  divifions  of  their  petals,  in  order  to  diminilh  their  ac- 
tion. Cones  and  ears  have  no  petals.  The  convolvulus 
has  but  one  ;  rofe  formed  flowers  have  five;  elliptical 
flowers,  as  the  tulip  and  the  liliaceous,  have  fix;  flow- 
ers  with  plane  reflectors,  as  the  radiated,  have  a  great  num- 
ber. 

Farther,  flowers  have  parts  adapte(J  to  the  other  ele- 
ments. Some  are  clothed  externally  with  a  hairy  g?,r.. 
ment,  to  flielter  them  from  the  cold.  Others  are  formed 
to  blow  on  the  furface  of  the  water ;  fuch  are  the  yellow 
rofes  ot  the  nymphcca,  which  float  on  lakes,  and  accom- 
modate themfelves  to  the  various  movements  of  the  waves, 
without  being  wet  by  them,  by  means  of  the  long  and  pii- 
^t  ilcnis  to  which  they  are  attached,      Thofe  of  the  z'a/r/\^ 


i82  A  VINDICATION  of 

neria  are  ftill  more  artfully  difpofed.  They  grow  in  the 
Rhone,  and  would  be  there  expofed  to  frequent  inunda- 
tion by  tlie  fuddcn  fwel lings  of  that  river,  had  not  Nature 
given  them  flems  formed  like  a  corkfcrew,  which  draw 
out  at  once  to  the  length  of  three  or  four  feet. 

There  are  other  flowers  adapted  to  the  winds  and  to 
the  rains,  as  thofe  of  pcafe,  which  are  furniflied  with  little 
boats  to  cover  and  flielter  the  flamina,  and  the  embryons 
of  their  fruits.*  Befides,  they  have  large  pavilions,  and 
fefl  on  tails  bent  and  elaflic,  as  a  nerve  ;  fo  that  when  the 
wind  blows  over  a  field  of  peafe,  you  may  fee  all  the 
flowers  turn  their  back  to  the  wind,  like  Xo  many  weather 

cocks.  .;j    :>  ,'  . 

This  clafs  appears  to  be  very  generally  diffufed  over 
places  much  expofed  to  the  winds.  Da?npier  relates,  that 
he  found  the  defert  Ihores  of  New  Guinea  covered  with 
peafe,  whofebloifoms  were  red  and  blue.  In  our  climates, 
the  fern,  which  crowns  the  fummits  of  hills  always  bat- 
tered with  the  wind  and  rain,  bears  its  flower  turned  to- 
ward the  Earth,  on  the  back  of  its  leaves.  There  are  even 
certain  fpecies  of  plants,  the  flowering  of  which  is  regu- 
lated by  the  irregularity  of  the  winds.  Such  are  thofe, 
the  male  and  female  individuals  of  which  grow  on  feparate 
ilems.  Tofled  hiilier  and  thither  over  the  earth,  frequently 
at  great  diftances  from  each  other,  the  powder  of  the  male 
flowers  could  fecundate  but  a  very  few  female  flowers, 
unlefs,  at  the  feafon  of  their  florification,  the   wind   blew 

*  I  am  pcrfuaded,  that  the  bearing  of  mod  flowers  is  adapted  to  the 
rains,  and  for  this  rcafon  it  is  that  many  of  them  have  the  form  of  mufflers, 
or  ridges,  like  little  boats  inverted,  which  fheltcr  the  parts  of  fecundation. 
I  have  remarked  that  many  fpecies  of  flowers  poflefs  the  inftinft,  (hall  I 
venture  to  call  it  ?  of  clofing  thcmfelves  when  the  air  is  humid,  and  that  the 
irnprcgnation  of  frujt  tree  bloifoms  is  injured  much  more  by  the  rain  than 
by  the  froll.  This  oblcrvation  is  of  cITential  importance  to  gardeners,  who 
frequently  caufc  the  llov;crs  of  their  lliawberry  plants  to  mifcarry  by  water- 
ing them.  As  far  as  1  can  jodgc,  it  would  be  better  to  water  plants,  in 
bloffom,  by  I'.itlc  trcnchcj,  according  to  the  Indir.n  method,  rather  ihau  by 
•ifperficn. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  183 

from  various  quarters.  Wonderful  to  be  told!  there  are 
invariable  generations  depending  on  the  variablenefs  of 
the  wind.  Hence  I  prefume,  that,  in  countries  where  the 
winds  always  blow  from  the  fame  quarter,  as  between  the 
Tropics,  this  fpecies  of  florification  muft  be  uncommon  ; 
and  if  it  be  found  there  at  all,  it  muft  be  regulated  prc- 
cifely  according  to  the  feafon  when  thofe  regular  winds 
vary. 

It  is  impoflible  to  entertain  a  doubt  refpefting  thofe  ad- 
mirable relations,  however  remote  they  may  appear,  when 
we  obferve  the  attention  with  which  Nature  has  preferv- 
ed  flowers  from  the  fhocks  to  which  they  might  be  expof- 
€d,  from  the  winds  themfelvcs,  upon  their  Items.  She 
inwraps  them,  for  the  moft  part,  in  an  integument,  which 
Botanifts  call  the  calix.  The  more  ramous  the  plant  is, 
the  thicker  is  the  calix  of  its  flower.  She  fometimes 
fringes  it  with  little  cufhions  and  beards,  as  may  be  feen 
in  the  rofe  bud.  Thus  the  mother  puts  a  pad  round  the 
head  of  her  little  child,  to  fecure  it  againft  accidents  from 
falling.  Nature  has  fo  clearly  marked  her  intention  as  to 
this,  in  the  cafe  of  the  flowers  of  ramous  plants,  that  fhe 
has  deprived  of  this  clothing  fuch  as  grow  on  ftems  that, 
are  not  branchy,  and  where  they  are  in  no  danger  from 
the  agitation  of  the  winds.  This  may  be  remarked  with 
regard  to  the  flowers  of  Solomon's  feal,  of  the  lily  of  the 
valley,  of  the  hyacinth,  of  the  narciffus,  of  moft  of  the 
liliaceous,  and  of  plants  which  bear  their  flowers  ifolated, 
on  perpendicular  ftems. 

Flowers  have,  farther,  very  curious  relations  with  an- 
imals and  with  Man,  from  the  diverfity  of  their  configur- 
ations, and  from  their  fmells.  Thofe  of  one  fpecies  of 
the  orchis  reprefent  bugs,  and  exhales  the  fame  unpleafant 
odour.  Thofe  of  a  fpecies  of  the  arum  refembles  putrid 
flefh,  and  has  the  infeftion  of  it  to  fuch  a  degree,  that  the 
flefh  fly  reforts  thither  to  depofit  her  eggs.  But  thofe  re- 
lations, hitherto  very  fuperficially  inveftigated,  do  not 
Gome  in  fo  properly  under  this  article  ;  it  is  fufficient  lor 


,8^  A  VINDICATION  of 

mc  to  have  here  denionftrated,  that  they  aftually  have  very^ 
clearly  marked  relations  with  the  elements,  and  efpecially 
with  the  Sun. 

When  Botanifts  (hall  have  diffufed  over  this  branch  of 
the  fubjeft  all  the  light  of  which  it  is  fufceptible,  by  ex- 
amining their  focufes,  the  elevation  to  which  they  rife  a- 
bove  the  ground,  the  fhelter,  or  the  reflexion  of  the  bod- 
ies which  are  in  their  vicinity,  the  variety  of  their  colours, 
in  a  word,  all  the  means  by  which  Nature  compenfates 
the  differences  of  their  feveral  expofures,  and  they  will 
no  longer  doubt  about  thofe  elementary  harmonies  ;  they 
will  acknowledge  that  the  flower,  far  from  prefenting  an 
unvarying  charaQer  in  plants,  exhibits,  on  the  contrary, 
a  perpetual  charafter  of  diverfity.  It  is  by  this,  principal- 
Iv,  that  Nature  varies  the  fpecies  in  the  fame  genus  of 
plant,  in  order  to  render  it  fufceptible  of  fecundation,  on 
different  fites.  This  explains  the  reafon  why  the  flowers 
of  the  great  chefnut  of  India,  but  originally  from  Amer- 
ica, are  not  the  fame  with  thofe  of  the  European  chefnut ; 
and  that  thofe  of  the  fullers  thiflle,  which  thrives  on  the 
brink  of  rivers,  are  different  from  thofe  of  thiftles,  which 
grow  in  lofty  and  dry  places. 

A  very  extraordinary  obfervation  fhall  ferve  irrefraga- 
bly  to  confirm  all  that  we  have  juft  now  advanced  :  It  is 
this,  that  a  plant  fometimes  totally  changes  the  form  of 
its  flowers  in  the  generation  which  reproduces  it.  This 
phenomenon  greatly  aftoniflied  the  celebrated  LinncEus^ 
the  firfl  time  that  it  was  fubmitted  to  his  confideration. 
One  of  his  pupils  brought  him,  one  day,  a  plant  perfeftly 
fimilai  to  the  linarium,  the  flower  excepted  ;  the  colour, 
the  favour,  the  leaves,  the  flcm,  the  root,  the  calix,  the 
pericarpium,  the  feed,  in  a  word,  the  fmell.  whi<:h  is  a  re- 
markable circumftance,  were  exaftly  the  fame,  only  its 
flowers  were  in  form  of  a  tunnel,  whereas  thofe  ot  the  lin- 
iuium  are  gullet  formed.  Limiaus  imagined,  at  firft,  that 
his  pupil  intended  to  put  his  knowledge  to  the  teft,  by 
adapting  a  ilrangc  flower  to  the  ftem  of  that  plant ;  but  he 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  185 

fatisfied  himfelf  that  it  was  a  real  linarium,  the  flower  of 
which  Nature  had  totally  changed.  It  had  been  found  a- 
mong  other  linaria,  in  an  ifland,  feven  miles  diftant  from 
Upfal,  near  the  fhore  of  the  fea,  on  a  fandy  and  gravelly 
bottom.  He  himfelf  put  it  to  the  proof,  that  it  reperpet- 
uated  itfelf  in  this  new  ftate  by  its  feeds.  He  afterwards 
found  fome  of  it  in  other  places  :  And,  what  is  ftill  more 
extraordinary,  there  were,  among  thefe  laft,  fome  which 
carried  on  the  fame  ftalk  flowers  tunnel  formed,  and  floW= 
crs  gullet  formed. 

He  gave  to  this  new  vegetable  the  name  of  pelorum, 
from  the  Greek  word-TrsXa^p,  which  fignifies  prodigy.  He 
afterwards  6bferved  the  fame  variations  in  other  fpecies  of 
plants,  and  among  the  reft,  in  the  eriocephalous  thiftle, 
the  feeds  of  which  produce,  every  year,  in  the  garden  of 
Upfal,  the  fantaftic  thiftle  of  the  Pyrennees.*  This  illuf- 
luftrious  Botanift  accounts  for  thefe  transformations,  as 
being  the  effeft  of  a  mongrel  generation,  difturbed  by  the 
fecundating  farina  of  fome  other  flower  m  the  vicinity. 
It  may  be  fo  ;  to  his  opinion,  however,  may  be  oppofed, 
the  flowers  of  the  pelorum,  and  of  the  linarium,  which  he 
found  united  on  the  fame  individual.  Had  it  been  the 
fecundation  which  transformed  this  plant,  it  ought  to  have 
given  fimilar  flowers  in  the  whole  individual.  Befides,  he 
himfelf  has  obferved,  that  there  was  not  the  flighteft  con- 
fufion  in  the  other  parts  of  the  f  elorum,  any  more  than 
in  its  virtues  ;  but  this  muft  have  been  the  cafe,  as  well  as 
in  the  flower,  had  it  been  produced  by  a  mixture  of  fome 
ftrange  breed.  Finally,  the  pelorum  reproduced  itfelf  by 
feed,  which  does  not  take  place  in  any  one  mongrel  fpe- 
cies of  animals. 

This  fl:erility,  in  mongrel  branches,  is  an  efFeft  of  the 
fage  confiftency  of  Nature,  who  cuts  off"  divergent  genera- 
tions, in  order  to  prevent  the  primordial  fpecies  from  be- 
ing confounded,  and  from,  at  length,  difappearing  altogeth- 

*  Upfalian  DHTertation,  for  December,  1714  >  P^ge  59>  ^o^^  ^' 
VOL.    II,  Z 


i§6  A  VINDICATION  of 

er.  As  to  the  reft,  I  pry  neither  into  the  caufes,  nor  the; 
means,  which  fhe  is  pleafed  to  conceal  from  me,  becaufe 
(hey  far  tranfcend  my  comprehenfion.  1  confine  my  en- 
quiries to  the  ends  which  (he  kindly  unfolds  ;  I  confirm 
myfelf  in  the  belief,  from  the  variety  of  flowers  in  the 
fame  fpecies,  and  fometimes  in  the  fame  individual,  that 
they  ferve,  in  certain  cafes,  as  refleftors  to  vegetables,  for 
the  purpofe  of  colle6king,  conformably  to  their  pofitiofi, 
the  rays  of  the  Sun  on  the  parts  of  fecundation  ;  and,  in 
other  cafes,  asparafols,  to  put  them  under  covert  from  ex- 
cellive  heat. 

Nature  deals  by  them,  nearly,  as  flie  does  by  animals 
which  are  expofed  to  the  fame  variations  of  Latitude.  In 
Africa,  fhe  Jlrips  the  (heep  of  the  woolly  fleece,  and  gives 
her  fleek  fmooth  hair,  like  that  of  the  horfe  :  And  to  the 
North,  on  the  contrary,  flie  clothes  the  horfe  with  the 
fhaggy  fur  of  the  fheep.  1  have  been  an  eye  witnefs  of 
this  double  metamorphofis,  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope 
and  in  RufTia.  I  have  feen  at  Peterfburfr,  Norman  and 
Neapolitan  horfes,  whofe  hair,  naturally  ftiort,  was  fo 
long  and  fo  frizzled,  in  the  middle  of  Winter,  that  you 
would  have  believed  them  covered  with  wool  like  fheep. 
It  is  not  without  reafon,'  therefore,  that  the  ancient  prov- 
erb fays  :  GOD  tempers  the  -wind  to  the  Jhorn  lamb  :  And 
when  I  behold  his  paternal  hand  varying  the  fur  of  ani- 
mals conformably  to  the  degree  of  heat  and  cold,  I  can  ea- 
fily  believe,  that  it  varies,  in  like  manner,  the  mirrors  of 
ilowers  conformably  to  the  Sun.  Flowers,  then,  may  be 
divided,  with  relation  to  the  Sun,  into  two  clafles  :  Into 
reverberating  flowers,  and  flowers  in  form  of  a  parafol. 

If  there  be  any  conftant  charafter  in  plants,  we  muft: 
look  for  it  in  the  fruit.  It  is  thitherward  that  Nature  has 
dire6led  all  the  parts  of  vegetation,  as  to  the  principal 
©bjeft.  That  faying  of  Wisdom  itfelf,  by  their  fruits 
ye  Jhall  know  them,  is,  at  leaft,  as  applicable  to  plants  as 
to  the  human  fpecies. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  187 

We  fliall  examine,  therefore,  the  general  characlcrs  of 
plants,  with  relation  to  the  places  where  their  feeds  are  ac- 
cuftomed  to  grow.  As  the  animal  kingdom  is  divided  in- 
to three  great  clalTes,  quadrupeds,  volatiles  and  aquatics", 
relatively  to  the  three  elements  of  the  Globe  ;  we  (hall, 
in  like  manner,  divide  the  vegetable  kingdom  into  aerial 
or  mouHtain  plants  ;  into  aquatics,  or  thofe  of  the  fhores  ; 
and  into  terreftrial,  or  thofe  of  the  plains.  But  as  this  laft 
participates  of  the  two  others,  we  (hall  not  dwell  upon  it  ; 
for,  though  I  am  perfuaded  that  every  fpecies,  nay,  that 
every  variety,  may  be  referred  to  fome  particular  fite  of 
the  earth,  and  may  grow  there  in  its  higheft  degree  oi 
beauty,  it  is  fufEcient  to  fay  as  much  of  it  here  as  may  be 
necefla-ry  to  the  profperity  of  a  fmall  garden.  When  we 
fhall  have  traced  invariable  charafters,  in  the  two  extrem- 
ties  of  the  vegetable  kingdom,  it  will  be  eafy  to  refer  to 
the  intermediate  claffes,  thofe  which  arc  adapted  to  them. 
We  fhall  begin  with  the  plants  of  the  mountains. 


Elementary  Harmonies  of  plants  with  the  Water  and  the 
Air^  by  Means  of  their  Leaves  and  their  Frjrits. 


When  the  Author  of  Nature  deligned  to  clothe  with 
vegetables  even  the  higheft  and  fleepeft  pinnacles  of  the 
Earth,  He  fir  ft  adapted  the  chains  of  mountains  to  the  ba- 
fons  of  the  feas  which  were  to  fupply  them  with  vapours  ; 
to  the  courfe  of  the  winds  which  were  to  waft  them  thither, 
and  to  the  different  afpefts  of  the  Sun  by  which  they  were 
to  be  heated.  As  foon  as  thefe  harmonies  were  eftabliih- 
ed  between  the  elements,  the  clouds  afcended  out  of  the 
Ocean,  and  difperfed  themfelves  over  the  moft  remote 
parts  of  the  Continents.  There  they  diftilled,  under  a 
tlioufand  different  forms,  in  fogs,  in  mifts,  in  dews,  in 
rains,  in  fnows.     They  defcendcd  from  the  heights  of  tiie 


lis  A  VINDICATION  of 

Atmofphere  in  every  paflible  variety  of  manner  ;  fome  in 
a  tranquil  air,  fuch  as  our  Spring  Ihowers,  came  down  in 
perpendicular  drops,  as  if  they  had  been  flrained  through 
afieve;  others,  driven  by  the  furious  winds,  beat  horizon- 
tally on  the  fides  of  the  mountains  ;  others  fell  in  torrents, 
like  thofe  which,  for  nine  months  of  the  year,  inundate 
the  Ifland  of  Gorgona,  placed  in  the  heart  of  the  Torrid 
Zone,  in  the  burning  Gulf  of  Panama.  There  were  fomc 
which  accumulated  themfelves,  in  mountains  of  fnow,  on 
the  inacceflible  fummits  of  the  Andes,  to  cool,  by  their 
effufions,  the  Continent  of  South  America,  and,  by  their 
icy  Atmofphere,  the  vaft  expanfe  of  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
In  a  word,  mighty  rivers  flowed  over  regions  where 
the  rain  never  defcends,  and  the  Nile  watered  the  plains 
of  Egypt. 

Then  GOD  faid  :  "  Let  the  Earth  bring  forth  grafs, 
*'  the  herb  yielding  feed,  and  the  fruit  tree  yielding  fruit 
*'  after  his  kind,  whofe  feed  is  in  itfelf  upon  the  Earth." 
At  the  voice  of  the  Allmighty,  the  vegetables  appeared 
with  organs  perfe6lly  fitted  to  colleft  the  bleflings  of 
Heaven.  The  elm  arofe  on  the  mountains  which  fkirt 
the  Tanai's,  clothed  with  leav^es  in  form  of  a  tongue  ;  the 
tufted  box  flatted  from  the  brow  of  the  Alps  ;  and  the 
prickly  caper  tree  from  the  rocks  of  Africa,  with  leaves 
hollowed  into  fpoons.  The  pines  on  the  fandy  Norwe- 
gian hills  attrafted  the  vapours  which  were  floating  in  the 
air,  with  their  Aim  foliage,  difpofed  like  a  Painter's  pen- 
cil ;  the  verbafcum  difplayed  its  broad  leaves  on  the  parch- 
ed fand,  and  the  fern  prefented,  on  the  hill,  its  fanlike  fo- 
liage to  the  rainy  and  horizontal  winds.  A  multitude  of 
other  plants,  from  the  bofom  of  the  rocks,  from  ftrata  of 
flint,  nav,  even  from  marble  incruftations,  drunk  in  the 
waters  of  Heaven  by  cornets,  by  fandals  and  by  cruets. 
From  the  cedar  of  Lebanon  down  to  the  violet  which  per- 
fumes the  grove,  there  was  not  one  but  what  prefented  its 
large  gobl-.^^  or  iis  tiny  cup,  conformably  to  its  neceflity, 
©r  its  llation; 


DIVINE    PROVIDENCE.  189 

This  adaptation  of  the  leaves  of  plants,  in  elevated  fitu- 
ations,  for  receiving  the  defcending  diftillations  of  the 
rain,  is  varied  without  end  j  but  the  charafter  of  it  is  dif- 
cernible  in  moft,  not  only  in  their  concave  forms,  but  like- 
wife  in  a  littk  canal,  fcoopedouton  the  pedicle  by  which 
they  are  attached  to  their  branches.  It  has  fomething  of 
a  refemblance  to  that  which  Nature  has  traced  on  the  up- 
per lip  of  Man,  to  receive  the  humours  which  defcend 
from  the  brain.  It  is  particularly  perceptible  on  the 
leaves  of  artichokes,  which,  being  of  the  nature  of  thir- 
ties, agree  with  dry  and  fandy  fituations.  Thefe  have, 
befides,  collateral  awnings  to  prevent  the  lofs  of  any  of 
the  water  that  falls  from  Heaven.  Plants  which  grow  in 
places  very  hot,  and  very  parched,  fometimes  have  their 
ilems  or  their  leaves  transformed  entirely  into  a  canal. 
Such  are  the  aloes  of  the  ifland  of  Zocotara,  in  the  mouth 
ot  the  Red  Sea,  or  the  prickly  taper  of  the  Torrid  Zone. 
The  aqueduft  of  the  aloes  is  horizontal,  and  that  of  the 
tap§r  perpendicular. 

What  has  prevented  Botanifts  from  remarking  the  re- 
lations which  the  leaves  of  plants  have  with  the  waters 
that  feed  and  refrefli  them,  is  their  feeing  them  every 
where  nearly  of  the  fame  form,  in  the  valleys,  as  on  the 
heights  ;  but  though  mountain  plants  prefcnt  foliages  of 
every  kind  of  configuration,  you  may  eafily  difcern,  from 
their  aggregation  in  form  of  pencils,  or  fans,  from  the 
gatherings  of  the  leaves,  or  other  equivalent  figns,  that 
they  are  deftined  to  receive  the  rain  water,  but  chiefly 
from  the  aqueduft  which  I  have  juft  mentioned.  This 
aqucdu^l  is  traced  on  the  pedicle  of  the  fmalleft  leaves  of 
mountain  plants ;  by  means  of  it,  Nature  has  rendered  the 
forms  themfelves  of  aquatic  plants  fufceptible  of  vegeta- 
tion in  the  moft  parched  fituations. 

The  bulrufh,  for  example,  which  is  only  a  round  and 
full  ftraw,  that  grows  by  the  v\^ater  fide,  did  not  appear 
fufceptible  of  collefting  any  humidity  in  the  air,  though 
U  is  very  well   fujted  to  jofty  fituations,  from   its  capilJa- 


90 


A  VINDICATION  OF 


ceons  form,  which,  like  that  of  gramineous  plants  prcfents 
nothing  to  the  wind  to  lay  hold  of.  In  faft,  if  you  confid- 
€r  the  different  fpecies  of  rufh  which  clothe  the  moun- 
tains in  many  parts  of  the  world,  fuch  as  that  called  ichd, 
on  the  lofty  mountains  of  Peru,  the  only  vegetable  almoft 
that  grows  there,  and  thofe  which  thrive  with  ourfelves 
in  dry  fands,  or  on  heigiits,  you  would,  at  the  firft  glance, 
believe  them  fimiiar  to  the  rufh  of  marfhy  places  ;  but 
with  a  little  attention,  and  not  without  aftonifhment,  you 
will  obferve  that  they  are  hollowed  into  a  furrow  the 
whole  of  their  lengthwife  direftion.  They  are,  like  oth- 
er rufhes,  convex  on  one  fid*^,  but  they  differ  from  them 
cllentially,  in  that  they  are  all  concave  on  the  other  ;  I 
was  enabled  todiflinguilh,  by  this  fame  charafter,  the  fpar- 
tha,  which  is  a  rufh  of  the  mountains  of  Spain,  and  is  now 
frequently  manufafturcd  at  Paris  into  cordage  for  their 
draw  wells. 

Many  leaves,  even  of  the  plants  of  the  plains,  affume, 
on  their  firfl  fpringing  up,  this  form  of  little  furrow,  or 
fpoon,  as  thofe  of  the  violet,  and  of  moft  gramineous 
plants.  You  may  perceive,  in  the  Spring,  the  young 
tufts  of  thefe  railing  themfeives  upright  toward  Heaven, 
like  paws,  to  catch  the  falling  drops,  efpecially  when  it 
beo-ins  to  rain  ;  but  moft  plants  of  the  plains  1-ofe  their 
gutter  as  they  expand.  It  has  been  bellowed  on  them  on- 
ly during  the  feafon  when  it  w^as  ncceffary  to  their  growth. 
It  is  permanent  only  in  the  plants  of  the  mountains.  It 
is  traced,  as  has  been  mentioned,  on  the  pedicle  of  the 
leaves,  and  condu6ts  the  rain  water  into  the  tree,  from  the 
leaf  to  the  branch  :  The  branch,  by  the  obliquity  of  its  po- 
Jition,  conveys  it  to  the  trunk,  from  whence  it  defcends 
to  the  root,  by  a  fcries  of  fucccffive  difpofitions.  If 
you  pour  water  gently  over  the  leaves  of  a  mountain 
fhrub,  which  are  the  farti^eft  from  its  ftem,  you  will  per- 
ceive it  purfue  the  progrefs  which  I  have  jufl  indicated, 
and  not  a  fmgle  drop  will  be  lofl  on  the  ground. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  i^i 

I  have-  had  the  curiofity  to  meafare,  in  fome  niountai« 
plants,  the  inclination  which  their  branches  form  xvith 
their  ftem  ;  and  I  have  found,  in  at  leafl  a  dozen  of  differ- 
ent fpecies,  as  in  the  fern,  the  thuia,  and  the  like,  an  an- 
gle of  about  thirty  degrees.  It  is  very  remarkable,  that 
this  degree  of  incidence  is  the  fame  with  that  which  is 
formed,  in  a  fiat  country,  by  the  courfc  of  many  rivulets 
and  fmaller  rivers,  with  the  great  rivers  into  which  they 
difcharge  themfeives,  as  may  be  afcertained  by  reference 
to  maps.  This  degree  of  incidence  appears  to  be  the  raofb 
favourable  to  the  efflux  of  many  fluids,  which  direct  them- 
feives toward  one  fingle  line.  The  fame  Wifdom  has  reg- 
ulated the  level  of  the  branches  in  trees,  and  the  courfe  of 
the  ftream  through  the  plains. 

This  inclination  undergoes  fome  varieties  in  certain 
mountain  trees.  The  cedar  of  Lebanon,  for  example, 
fends  forth  the  lower  parts  of  its  branches,  in  an  upward 
direction,  toward  Heaven,  and  lowers  their  extremities,  by 
bending  them  downward  to  the  Earth.  They  hav«  the  at- 
titude of  command  which  is  fuited  to  the  king  o-f  vegeta- 
bles, that  of  an  arm  raifed  up  into  the  air,  with  the  hand 
gently  inclining.  By  me-ans  of  the  Srft  difpoCtion,  the 
rain  water  is  conveyed  along  the  Hoping  branch  to  tlie 
tnink  ;  and  by  the  fecond,  the  fnows,  in  the  regions  of 
\vhich  it  takes  delight  to  dwell.  Aide  away  from  off  its  fo- 
liage. Its  cones  have,  in  like  manner,  two  different  atti- 
tudes ;  for  it  inclines  them,  at  firfl,  toward  the  Earth,  to 
fhelter  them  at  the  feafon  of  their  flowering  ;  but  when 
they  are  fecundated,  it  eretis  them  toward  Heaven.  The 
truth  of  thefe  obfervations  may  be  confirmed  by  referring 
:o  a  yoimg  and  beautiful  cedar  m  the  Royal  Garden, 
which,  though  a  flranger,  has  preierved,  in  the  midft  of 
cur  climate,  the  air  of  a  King,  and  the  majeflic  port  of 
Lebanon. 

The  bark  of  moff  mountain  trees  is  equally  adapted  for 
conducing  the  rain  water  from  the  branches  to  the  roots- 
Tkat  of  the  pine  is  in  Ivge  perpcniicu-iar  ribs  ;  that  «f 


tgt  A  VINDICATION  op 

the  elm  is  cleft  and   chinked  longitudinally  ;  that   of  the 
cyprefs  is  fpongy,  like  the  coat  of  flax. 

The  plants  of  mountains,  and  of  dry  gfounds,  have  a 
farther  chara8:er,  which  is,  in  general,  peculiar  to  them  : 
It  is  that  of  attrafting  the  water  which  floats  in  the  air, 
in  imperceptible  vapours.  The  parietaria  (pellitory)  which 
has  derived  its  name  from  the  Latin  word  pariete^  (wall) 
becaufe  it  grows  on  the  fides  of  walls,  has  its  leaves  al- 
mofl  always  in  a  humid  ftate.  This  attraftion  is  common 
to  moft  trees  of  the  mountains.  Travellers  unanimoufly 
afTure  us,  that  there  is,  in  the  mountains  of  the  Ifland  of 
Ferro,  a  tree,  which  furnifhes  every  day,  to  that  ifland,  a 
prodigious  quantity  of  water.  The  iflanders  call  it  garoe\ 
and  the  Spaniardsy^z/z/^^,  from  its  Angular  utility.  They 
tell  us  it  is  always  furrounded  with  a  cloud,  which  diftils 
copioufly  along  its  leaves,  and  fills  with  water  the  large 
refervoirs  which  are  conftruQed  at  the  root  of  this  tree, 
affording  an  abundant  fupply  for  the  ifland. 

This  effeft  is,  perhaps,  fomewhat  exaggerated,  though 
related,  in  nearly  the  fame  terms,  by  perfons  of  different 
Nations  :  But  I  give  full  credit  to  the  general  faft.  The 
real  cafe  I  take  to  be  this,  it  is  the  mountain  which  at- 
tracts from  afar  the  vapours  of  the  Atmofphere,  and  that 
the  tree,  fltuated  in  the  focus  of  attraftion,  colle£ls  them 
around  it. 

Having  frequently  fpokcn,  in  the  courfe  of  this  Work, 
of  the  attraftion  of  the  fummits  of  many  mountains,  the 
Reader,  perhaps,  will  not  be  difpleafed,  if  I  prefent  to 
him,  in  this  place,  an  idea  of  that  branch  of  the  hydraulic 
architefture  of  Nature.  Among  a  great  number  of  curi- 
ous examples,  whicli  I  might  produce  to  this  purpofe, 
and  which  I  have  collefted,  as  an  addition  to  my  materials 
on  the  fubjeft  of  Geography,  I  beg  leave  to  prefent  one, 
which  1  haveextra8ed,  not  from  a  fyftematic  Philofopher, 
but  from  a  fimple  and  unalfeQedly  fprightly  traveller  oi 
£he  laft  age,  who  relates  things  as  he  faw  them,  and  with- 
out pretending  to  deduce  confequcnccs  of  any  kind  what- 


DIVINE    PROVIDENCE.  j^3 

t?ver.  It  is  a  defcription  of  the  fummits  of  the  Ifland  of 
Bourbon,  fituated  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  extending  to  the 
tvventyfirft  degree  of  South  Latitude.  It  is  copied  from 
the  writings  of  M.  de  Villers^  who  was  then  Governor  of 
that  ifland,  under  the  Eaflindia  Company.  It  is  publifli- 
cd  in  the  journals  of  the  firft  voyages  madfe  by  our  French 
Navigators  into  Arabia  Felix,  about  the  year  1709,  and 
given  to  the  World  by  M.  d^  la  Roque.  See  that  Work, 
page  201. 

"  Of  thofe  plains,''  fays  M.  de  Villers,  which  are  up- 
on the  mountains  (of  Bourbon)  *'  the  mofl  remarkable, 
"  though  no  account  has  hitherto  been  given  of  it,  is  that 
"  to  which  they  have  given  the  name  of  the  Plain  of  the 
**  Cafres,  from  a  tribe  of  that  People,  flaves  to  the  inhab- 
*'  itants  of  the  Ifland,  who  went  thither  to  conceal  them- 
*'  felves,  after  they  had  ran  away  from  their  matters. 
*'  From  the  fliore  of  the  fea,  you  rife  by  a  gentle  afcent, 
*'  for  {tMt.n  leagues  together,  in  order  to  reach  this  plain, 
*'  by  the  fingle  path  that  leads  to  it,  along  the  river  of 
Saint  Stephen  :  It  is  poflible,  however,  to  ride  up  on 
horfeback.  The  foil  is  good  and  fmooth  to  about  a 
*'  league  and  a  half,  on  this  fide  the  plain,  planted  with 
"  large  and  beautiful  trees,  the  foliage  of  which,  as  it  falls, 
*'  ferves  for  food  to  the  tortoifes,  which  are  to  be  found 
*'   there  in  great  numbers. 

"  The  height  of  this  plain  may  be  eflimated  at  two 
**  leagues  above  the  Horizon  ;  it  accordingly  appears 
"  from  below  to  be  quite  lofl;  in  the  clouds.  Its  circum- 
ference may  be  about  four  or  five  leagues.  The  cold 
is  there  infupportable,  and  a  continual  Jog,  which  wets 
*'  as  ?nuck  as  rain,  prevents  your  feeing  objefts  ten  paces 
**  diftant  ;  as  it  falls  in  the  night,  you  may  fee  through  it 
"  more  clearly  than  by  day  :  But  then  it  freezes  dread- 
"  fully,  and  in  the  morning,  before  fun  rife,  the  plain  is 
*'  frozen  all  over. 

•'  But  what  flrikes  the  eye  of  the  beholder  as  very  ex- 
"  traordinary,  are  certain  elevations  of  ground,  cut  out 
VOL.    II.  A  a 


^94  A  VINDICATION  or 

"  almoft  in  form  oF  round  columns,  and  of  a  prodigiou* 
**  height  ;  for  they  cannot  be  much  lower  than  the  tur- 
*'  rets  of  Notre  Dame  at  Paris.  They  are  put  down  like 
*•  pins  on  the  fkittle  ground,  and  the  refemblance  is  fo 
^*  ftrong,  that  )'ou  may  eafily  miilake  on  reckoning  them  : 
**  They  go  by  the  name  oi  pi  tons  (pins).  If  you  wifh  ta 
*'  flop  by  one  of  thofe  eminences  to  take  reft,  fuch  of 
*'  your  company  as  are  not  inclined  to  repofe,  but  want 
*'  to  go  forward,  muft  not  withdraw  fo  much  as  two  hun- 
**  dred  paces,  othervvife  they  will  be  in  great  danger  of 
*'  not  finding  again  the  point  of  feparation,  thefe  pins  are 
**  fo  many  in  number,  all  fimilar  in  form,  and  fo  much 
'*  arranged  in  the  fame  manner,  that  the  Creoles,  who  are 
*'  native  there,  are  themfelves  liable  to  miftake. 

'*  For  this  reafon  it  is,  that,  in  order  to  prevent  the  un- 
"  pleafant  confequences  of  fuch  an  error,  when  a  compa- 
**  ny  of  travellers  take  ftation  at  one  of  the  pins,  if  any 
*'  are  difpofed  to  make  a  farther  excurfion,  they  leave  a 
"  perfon  at  the  place  of  rendezvous,  to  make  a  fire,  or 
"  raife  a  fmoke,  which  may  ferve  to  direcf,  and  bring 
*'  back  the  ftrayers ;  and  if  i\\tfog  he  Jo  thick,  which  is 
*'  frequently  the  cafe,  as  to  hinder  the  fire  or  the  fmoke 
*'  from  being  feen,  they  provide  themfelves  with  a  kind 
**  of  large  fiiells,  one  of  which  is  left  with  him  who  keeps 
*'  ftation  at  the  pin  ;  another  is  carried  off  by  the  feparat- 
"  ing  party  ;  and  when  they  wifli  to  return,  fome  one 
**  blows  violently  into  the  ftiell,  as  into  a  trumpet,  which 
*'  emits  a  very  Ihrill  found,  and  capable  of  being  heard  at 
*'  a  (Treat  diftance  ;  this  is  anTwered  by  tlie  other,  and  be- 
**  in^  repeated  as  often  as  is  neceflary,  they  arc  eafily  re- 
"  covered  from  ftraying,  and  collefted  at  the  point  of  de- 
"  parture.  Without  fuch  precautions,  the  traveller  might 
"  be  bewildered. 

*'  In  this  plain  are  many  afpin  trees,  and  they  are  al- 
'*  ways  green.  Other  trees  are  covered  with  a  mofs  of 
"  more  than  a  fathom  in  length  around  their  trunk  and 
"  large   branches.     They  are   withered,  without  fohage. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  195 

'*  and  fo  impregnated  with  molfture,  that  it  is  impofhble 
'*  to  make  them  take  fire.  If,  with  much  difficulty,  you 
•*  are  able  to  kindle  fome  of  the  fmaller  boughs,  it  is  on- 
'*  ly  a  dark  fire  without  flame,  which  emits  a  reddifii 
'*  fmoke,  that  defiles  the  meat  inftead  of  roafting  it.  You 
'*  can  hardly  find  a  fpot  in  this  plain  on  which  to  kindle 
"  a  fire,  unlefs  by  looking  about  for  fomc  fmall  elevation 
'*  round  the  peaks  ;  for  the  foil  of  the  plain  is  fo  humid, 
"  that  the  water  every  where  fpouts  out,  fo  that  you  arc 
'*  continually  in  mud,  and  moiftened  up  to  the  calf  of  the 
"  leg.  Great  numbers  of  blue  birds  are  to  be  feen  there 
'*  neftling  in  the  herbage,  and  among  the  aquatic  ferns. 
'*  This  plain  was  unknown  before  the  defertion  of  the 
•'  Cafres.  In  order  to  get  down,  you  muft  return  ty  the 
*^  fame  way  that  you  afcended,  unlefs  you  choofe  to  rua 
*'  the  rifk  of  another  path,  which  is  very  rough,  and  dan- 
**  geroufly  fteep. 

**  From  the  plain  of  the  Cafres  may  be  feen  the  moun- 
*'  tain  known  by  the  name  of  Trois  Salafes,  from  the 
*'  three  points  of  that  rock,  the  loftieft  in  the  Ifland  of 
*'  Bourbon.  All  its  rivers  iffue  from  thence,  and  it  is  fo 
**  fteep  on  every  fide,  that  there  is  no  pofiibility  of  climb- 
"  ingit. 

"  There  is,  befides,  in  this  ifland,  another  plain,  caUed 
*'  the  Plain  of  Silaos,  higher  than  that  of  the  Cafres,  and 
"  of  no  greater  value  :  It  is  extremely  difficult  to  get  up 
«'  to  it." 

In  the  lively  defcription  of  our  Traveller,  we  mufi:  q- 
verlook  fome  errors  in  Phyfics,  fuch  as  his  affigning  to 
the  Plain  of  the  Cafres  an  elevation  of  two  leagues  above 
the  Horizon.  He  had  not  learned  from  the  barometer 
and  thermometer,  that  there  is  no  fuch  elevation  on  the 
face  of  the  Globe,  and  that,  at  the  perpendicular  height  of 
one  league  only,  the  freezing  point  is  invariable.  But 
from  the  thick  fog  which  furrounds  thofe  peaks,  from  that 
continual  mift  which  wets  as  much  as  rain,  and  which  falls 
«iuring  the  night,  it  is  evidently  perceptible,  that  they  at- 


196  A  VINDICATION  or 

tra6l  to  them  the  vapours,  which  the  Sun  raifes  out  of  the 
Sea  in  the  day  time,  and  wliich  difappear  in  the  night. 
Hence  is  formed  that  flieet  of  water  which  inundates  the 
Flain  of  the  Cafres,  and  from  which  moft  of  the  brooks 
<ind  rivulets  that  water  tlie  ifland  take  their  rife.  You 
may  equally  diftmguifh  a  vegetable  attraftion  in  thofe  ev- 
ergreen afpins,  and  thofe  other  trees,  at  all  times  humid, 
which  it  is  impoffible  to  kindle  into  flame. 

1"he  Ifland  of  Bourbon  is  almofl:  round,  and  rifes  out 
of  the  Sea  in  the  fliape  of  half  an  Orange.  On  the  high- 
efl;  part  of  this  hemifphere  are  fituated  the  Plains  of  Silaos 
and  of  the  Cafres,  where  Nature  has  placed  thofe  laby- 
rinths of  peaks  continually  involved  in  fogs,  planted  like 
nine  pins,  and  elevated  like  fo  many  turrets. 

Did  time  and  room  permit,  I  could  make  it  «\'ident, 
that  there  are  a  multitude  of  fimilar  peaks  on  the  chains  of 
lofty  mountains,  of  the  Cordeliers,  of  Taurus  and  others, 
and  at  the  centre  of  mofl:  iflands,  without  admitting  the 
poflibility  of  fuppofing,  though  the  opinion  be  current,  that 
they  are  the  remains  of  a  primitive  Earth  raifed  to  that 
height  ;  for,  What  mufl;  have  become,  as  has  been  already 
demanded,  of  the  wreck  of  that  Earth,  the  pretended  tefl:i- 
monies  of  which  arife  on  every  hand  o^^er  the  furface  of 
the  Globe  ?  I  could  demonftrate  that  they  are  placed  in 
aggregations,  and  in  fltuations  adapted  to  the  neceflities  of 
the  countries  of  which  they  are,  in  fome  fenfe,  the  refer- 
voirs  ;  fome  in  a  labyrinth,  as  thofe  of  the  Ifland  of  Bour- 
bon, when  they  are  on  the  fummit  of  a  hemifphere,  from 
whence  they  are  deflined  to  diftribute  the  waters  of  Heav- 
en in  every  direft ion ;  others  in  form  of  a  comb,  when 
they  are  placed  on  the  extended  creft  of  a  chain  of  moun- 
tains, as  the  pointed  peaks  of  the  chain  of  Taurus  and  of 
the  Cord:iliers  ;  others  grouped  into  pairs,  into  threes,  ac- 
cording to  the  configuration  of  the  territory  which  they 
are  to  water.  They  are  of  many  for^r.s,  and  of  different 
conftruftions  :  Some  of  them  are  incruftationS  of  earth, 
fs  thofe  of  the  Plain  of  the  Cafres,  and  of  fome  of  the  An- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  197 

tilles  Iflands,  and  which  are  befides  fo  fleep,  as  to  be  en- 
tirely inacceffible.  Thofe  incruftations  of  earth  demon- 
ftrate,  that  they  have,  at  once,  foiTil  and  hydraulic  attrac- 
tions. 

There  are  others  which  prefent  long  needles  of  folid 
and  naked  rock  ;  others  are  of  a  conical  form  ;  others  are 
flattened  as  a  table,  fuch  as  that  of  Table  mountain,  at  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  where  you  may  frequently  fee  the 
clouds  accumulate,  and  fpread  like  a  table  cloth.  Some 
are  aot  apparent,  but  entirely  involved  in  the  fide  of  moun- 
tains, or  in  the  bofom  of  plains.  They  are  all  diftingui (li- 
able by  the  fogs  which  they  attraft  around  them,  and  by 
the  fources  which  emit  their  ftreams  in  the  vicinity.  Nay, 
you  may  reft  allured,  that  there  is  no  fource  but  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  fome  quarry  of  hydro  attraftive,  and, 
for  the  moft  part,  of  metallic  ftone.  I  afcribe  the  attrac- 
tion of  thofe  peaks  to  the  vitreous  and  metallic  bodies  of 
which  they  are  compofed  ;  And  I  am  perfuaded  it  might 
be  poflible  to  imitate  this  architefture  of  Nature,  and  to 
form,  by  means  of  the  attraftion  of  fuch  ftones,  fountains 
of  water  in  the  moft  parched  fituations.  In  general,  vi<t- 
reous  bodies,  and  ftones  fufceptible  of  polifh,  are  very 
proper  for  this  purpofe  ;  for  it  is  obfervable,  that  when 
water  is  diffufed  in  great  quantities  through  the  air,  as  at 
the  time  of  a  general  thaw,  it  is  firft  attrafted,  and  attach- 
es itfelf,  to  the  glafs  windows  and  the  polilhed  ftones  of 
pur  houfes. 

I  have  frequently  fcen  on  the  fummit  of  the  mountains, 
In  the  Ifle  of  France,  effefts  fimilar  to  thofe  of  the  peaks 
of  the  Plain  of  the  Cafres,  in  the  Ifland  of  Bourbon.  The 
clouds  colleft  there  incefTantly  around  their  peaks,  which 
are  fteep"  and  pointed,  like  pyramids.  Some  of  thofe 
peaks  terminate  in  a  rock  of  a  cubical  form,  which  crowns 
them  like  a  chapiter.  Such  is  that  one  which  they  call 
Piterbootk^  after  the  name  of  a  Dutch  Admiral  ;  it  is  on^ 
pf  the  loftieft  in  the  Ifland. 


198  A  VINDICATION  OF 

Thofe  peaks  are  formed  of  folid  rock,  vitrifiabic,  and 
mixed  with  copper  :  They  are  real  ele6lrical  needles,  both 
in  form  and  fubftancc.  The  clouds  perceptibly  deviate 
from  their  courfe  to  colleft  upon  them,  and  there  accu- 
mulate, fometimes  to  fuch  a  degree,  that  the  pinnacles 
become  totally  invifible.  They  thence  defcend  into  the 
cavity  of  the  valleys,  along  the  declivities  of  the  forefts, 
which  likewife  attra6l  them,  and  there  diflblve  into  rain, 
frequently  forming  ralobows  on  the  verdure  of  the  trees. 
This  vegetal^le  attraftion,  of  the  forefts  of  that  ifland,  is 
in  fuch  perfe6i:  harmony  with  the  metallic  attraction  of  the 
peaks  of  its  mountains,  that  a  field  fituated  in  an  open 
place,  in  their  vicinity,  very  often  fuffers  for  want  of 
j-ain,  whereas  it  rains  almoft  the  whole  year  round  in  the 
woods,  which  are  not  above  a  gunfliot  diftant.  It  was  by 
the  deftruclion  of  part  of  the  trees  that  clothed  the  heights 
of  the  ifland,  that  moft  of  the  brooks  which  watered  it 
have  been  dried  up  :  And  now  nothing  remains  of  them 
but  the  empty  channel. 

To  the  fame  injudicious  management,  I  afcrlbe  the  fen-, 
fible  diminution  of  a  confiderable  part  of  the  rivers  of 
JEurope,  both  great  and  fmall ;  as  is  evident  from  a  fimple 
infpeflion  of  their  ancient  bed,  which  is  much  broader 
and  deeper  than  the  mafs  of  water  at  this  day  tranfmitted 
by  them  to  the  Ocean.  Nay,  I  am  perfuaded,  that  to  this 
caufe  we  muft  afcribc  the  drynefs  of  the  more  elevated 
provinces  of  Afia,  thofcof  Perfia,  in  particular,  the  moun- 
tains of  which  have,  no  doubt,  been  injudicioufly  ftripped 
of  their  trees,  by  the  firft  tribes  who  inhabited  them.  I 
am  decidedly  of  opinion,  that  were  we  to  plant  in  France 
mountain  loving  trees,  on  the  high  grounds,  and  at  the 
fources  of  our  rivers,  their  ancient  volume  of  water  might- 
be  reftored,  and  many  rivulets  might  be  made  to  realfumc 
their  current  through  our  plains,  though  they  have  long 
fmce  ceafed  to  flow.  It  is  neither  among  the  reeds,  nor 
in  the  depth  of  the  valley,  that  the  Naiads  conceal  theij: 
r}:hauftlefs  urns,  as  Painters  reprefcnt  th$m^  but  at  the 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE. 


i^gr 


fummit  of  rocks  crowned  wkh  wood,  and  towering  to  the 
Heavens. 

There  is  not  a  fingle  vegetable,  the  leaf  of  which  is  dif- 
pofed  to  receive  the  rain  water  on  the  mountains,  whofe 
feed  is  not  formed  in  a  manner  the  beft  adapted  to  raife 
kfelf  thither.  The  feeds  of  all  mountain  plants  are  vola- 
tile. By  infpefting  their  leaves,  it  is  poffible  to  afcertain 
the  charafter  of  their  grains,  and  by  infpefting  the  grains, 
that  of  their  leaves,  and  thence  to  infer  the  elementary 
charafter  of  the  plant.  By  mountain  plants,  I  here  wilh 
to  be  underftood  to  mean  all  thofe  which  grow  in  fandy 
and  parched  fituations,  on  hillocks,  in  rocks,  on  fteep 
ridges  by  the  highway's  fide,  in  walls,  and,  in  one  word, 
at  a  diftance  from  water. 

The  feeds  of  thiftles,  of  blue  bottles,  of  dandelion,  of 
fuccory,  and  many  others,  are  furnifhed  v/ith  pinions,  with 
plumes,  with  tufts,  and  various  other  means  of  rifing, 
which  convey  them  to  prodigious  diftances.  Thofe  of 
the  graffes,  which  likewife  travel  very  far,  are  provided 
with  a  light  chaffy  coat,  and  with  bearded  hulks.  Oth- 
ers, fuch  as  thofe  of  the  yellow  gilliflower,  are  cut  into 
thitl  ftales,  and  fly  by  the  flighteft  breath  of  the  wind, 
and  plartt  themfelves  in  the  moft  inconfiderable  crevice 
of  a  wall.  The  feeds  of  the  largefl  mountain  trees  are  no 
iefs  volatile.  That  of  the  maple  has  two  membranous 
pinions,  fimilar  to  the  wings  of  a  fly.  That  of  the  elm  is 
cafed  in  the  midft  of  an  oval  thin  leaf.  Thofe  of  the  cy- 
prefs  are  almoft  imperceptible.  Thofe  of  the  cedar  ars 
terminated  by  broad  and  thin  plates,  which,  in  their  agore- 
gated  ftate,  compofe  a  cone.  The  grains  are  in  the  cen- 
tre of  the  cone  ;  and  when  arrived  at  maturity,  the  thin 
membranes,  to  which  they  adhere,  feparate  from  each  oth- 
er, like  the  cards  in  a  pack,  and  each  of  them  flies  off 
with  its  own  little  kernel.     fSee  the  annexed  Plate.) 

The  feeds  of  mountain  plants,  which  appear  too  heavy 
for  flying,  are  furnifhed  with  other  refources.  The  peafe 
of  the  balfaisine  have  pods  whofe  elalticity  darts  themt@  a 


200  A  VINDICATION  of 

confiderable  diflance.  There  is  likewife  a  tree  in  India," 
t!ie  name  of  which  I  do  not  now  recolleft,  that,  in  like 
manner,  difcharges  its  feeds  with  a  noife  like  that  of  a 
niuiket  fired  off.  Thofe  which  have  neither  tufts,  nor 
pinions,  nor  fprings,  and  which,  from  their  weight,  feem 
condemned  to  remain  at  the  foot  of  the  vegetable  which 
produced  them,  are,  in  very  many  cafes,  thofe  which 
travel  the  fartheft.  They  fly  off  with  the  wings  of  a  bird. 
It  is  thus  that  a  multitude  of  berries  and  (hell  fruits  refo\fr 
themfelves.  Their  feeds  are  inclofed  in  ftony  incrulla- 
tions,  not  capable  of  being  digefted.  They  are  fwallowed 
by  the  birds,  which  carry  them  ofF,  and  plant  them  in  the 
cornices  of  tov/ers,  in  the  clefts  of  rocks,  on  the  trunks  of 
trees,  beyond  rivers,  nay,  beyond  oceans.  By  fuch  means 
it  was  that  a  bird  of  the  Moluccas  repeopled,  with  the 
nutmeg  plant,  the  defert  iflands  of  that  archipelago,  in  de- 
fiance of  all  the  efforts  of  the  Dutch,  who  deflroy  thofe 
trees  in  every  place  where  they  cannot  be  fubfervient  to 
•their  own  commerce. 

This  is  not  the  place  for  bringing  forward  the  relations 
which  ve^retables  have  to  animals.  It  is  fufficient  to  ob- 
ferve,  as  we  go  along,  that  mod  birds  refow  the  vegetable 
which  feeds  them.  Nay,  we  find,  without  going  from 
Iiome,  quadrupeds  which  convey  to  a  great  diftance  the 
feeds  of  the  grades.  Such,  among  others,  as  do  not  chew 
the  cud,  horfes  for  inftance,  whofe  dung  is  hurtful  to  the 
meadov.'s,  for  an  obvious  reafon,  they  introduce  into  them 
a  variety  of  foreign  herbs,  as  the  heath  and  the  fhort  furze, 
the  feeds  oi  which  they  are  unable  to  digeft .  They  refow, 
befides,  a  great  many  others,  which  adhere  to  their  hair, 
by  the  motion  of  their  tail  fimply.  There  are  quadrupeds 
of  fmail  fize,  fuch  as  the  dormoufe,  the  Jjedgehog  and  the 
marmot,  which  conve\:'  to  the  moft  elevated  regions  ot 
the  mountains,  acorns,  beechmafl;  and  chefnuts. 

it  is  rmo-uhuly  worthy  of  remark,  that  volatile  feeds  are 
produced  in  much  greater  number  than  thofe  of  other  fpe- 
cies  ;  and  in  tki-s,  we  are  called  upon  to  admire  the  intcU 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  201 

ligence  of  that  Providence  which  forefaw  every  thing,  and 
arranged  all  accordingly.  The  elevated  fituations  for 
which  they  are  deflined,  were  expofed  to  be  fpeedily  ftrip- 
ped  of  their  vegetables,  by  the  declivity  of  their  foil,  and 
by  the  rains,  which  have  a  continual  tendency  to  lower 
them.  By  means  of  the  volatility  of  grains,  they  are  be- 
come, of  all  the  places  of  the  Earth,  the  moft  prolific  in 
plants.  In  the  mountains  is  depofited  the  Botanift's  trea- 
Aire. 

It  cannot  be  too  frequently  repeated,  The  remedies 
provided  by  Nature  always  furmount  the  obftacles  which 
fhe  has  oppofed  ;  and  her  compenfations  ever  exceed  her 
gifts.  In  truth,  if  you  except  the  inconveniencies  of  de- 
clivity, a  mountain  prefents  to  plants  the  greateft  variety 
of  expofures.  In  a  plain  they  have  the  fame  Sun,  the  fame 
degree  of  humidity,  the  fame  foil,  the  fame  wind  ;  but  if 
you  afcend  a  mountain,  fituated  in  our  Latitude,  only 
twentyfive  fathoms  of  perpendicular  height,  you  change 
your  climate  as  much  as  if  you  had  travelled  twentyfive 
leagues  northward  ;  fo  that  a  mountain  of  twelve  hundred 
fathoms  perpendicular  height,  would  prefent  us  with  a 
fcale  of  vegetation  as  extenfive  as  that  of  twelve  hundred 
leagues  along  the  Horizon,  which  is  nearly  our  diftance 
from  the  Pole  :  Both  the  one  and  the  other  would  termin- 
ate in  a  region  of  perpetual  ice.  Every  ftep  we  take  up- 
on a  mountain,  whether  afcending  or  defcending,  gives  us 
a  change  of  Latitude  ;  and  if  we  encompafs  it  round  and 
round,  every  ftep  changes  our  Longitude.  We  fhall  fall 
in  with  points  where  the  Sun  rifes  at  eight  o'clock  in  the 
morning  ;  others,  at  ten  o'clock ;  others,  at  noon.  We 
fiiould  find  an  infinite  variety  of  expofures  ;  of  cold  to- 
ward the  North,  of  heat  to  the  South,  of  rain  to  the  WVft, 
of  drought  to  the  Eaft ;  without  taking  into  the  account 
the  different  reflexions  of  heat  in  lands,  rocks,  bottoms  of 
valleys  and  lakes,  which  modify  them  a  thoufand  various 
ways. 

VOL.  ir,  B  b 


iio2  A  VINDICATION  of 

We  muft  proceed  farther  to  obferve;  and  who  (Tart  d(f 
it  without  profound  admiration  ?  that  the  feafon  of  the 
maturity  of  moft  volatile  feeds  takes  place  toward  the 
commencement  of  Autumn ;  and  that,  from  an  effeft  of 
the  univerfal  Intelligence,  which  eonflrains  all  the  parts 
of  Nature  to  aft  in  concert,  then  it  is  that  we  have  the 
mofl  violent  gales  of  wind,  about  the  end  of  September 
or  beginning  of  Oftober,  called  the  equinoftial  winds. 
Thefe  winds  blow  in  all  parts  of  the  Continents,  from  the 
bofom  of  the  feas  to  the  mountains  which  are  in  corref- 
pondence  with  them.  Not  only  do  they  convey  thither 
the  volatile  grains  which  have  then  attained  to  a  flate  of 
maturity  ;  but  likcwife  blend  with  thefe  thick  clouds  of 
dufl,  which  they  carry  off  from  lands  dried  up  by  the 
burning  heats  of  Summer,  and  particularly  from  the  fhores 
of  the  Sea,  where  the  inceffant  motion  of  the  billows^ 
which  there  break,  and  continually  tofs  the  pebbly  ilrand 
backward  and  forward,  reduce  the  hardeft  bodies  to  an  im- 
palpable powder. 

Thofe  emanations  of  duff  are  in  many  places  fo  copi- 
ous, that  I  could  produce  a  variety  of  inftances  of  veffels 
covered  with  them,  as  they  were  crofiing  gulfs,  though 
more  than  fix  leagues  dillant  from  land.  They  are  fo 
troublefome  in  the  loftier  provinces  of  Afia,  that  all  trav- 
ellers who  have  vifited  Pekin  affure  us,  it  is  impoflible  to 
walk  the  fireets  of  that  city,  for  a  confiderable  part  of  the 
vear,  without  having  the  face  veiled.  Thus  there  are  rains 
of  duft  which  repair  the  fummits  of  the  mountains,  as 
there  are  rains  of  water  which  feed  their  fources.  Both 
the  one  and  the  other  iffue  from  the  Sea,  and  return  to  it 
by  the  courfe  of  the  rivers,  which  are  perpetually  convey- 
ino-  thither,  their  conflant  tribute  of  waters  and  fands. 
The  maritime  winds  unite  their  efforts  toward  the  au- 
tumnal equinox,  tranfport  trom  the  circumference  of  the 
Continents,  to  mountains  the  moft  remote  from  them,  the 
feeds  and  the  manure  which  had  flowed  from  thence,  and 
fow  meadows,  groves  and  forefts,  on  the   fides  of  precipi- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  203 

ces,  and  the  moft  inacccffible  peaks.  Thus  the  leaves,  the 
Hems,  the  feeds,  the  birds,  the  feafons,  the  feas  and  the 
winds,  concur,  in  a  moll  wonderful  manner,  to  keep  up 
tht  vegetation  of  the  mountains. 

I  have  been  mentioning  the  relations  of  plants  to  moun- 
tains ;  I  am  mortified  that  it  is  not  in  my  power  here  to 
infert  the  relations   which    mountains  themfelves   have 
with  plants,  according  to  my  original  intention.     All  that 
I  can,  at  prefent,  fay  on  the  fubjea  is,  that  fo  far  are  moun- 
tains from  being  the  produaions  of  a  centrifugal  force,  or 
of  fire,  or  of  earthquakes,  or  of  water  courfes,  I  know  of, 
at  leaft,  ten  different  fpecies,  each  of  which  has  a  config- 
uration the  moft  perfeaiy  adapted  for  keeping  up,  in  ev- 
ery particular  Latitude,  the  harmony  of  the  elements  rel- 
atively to  vegetation.     Each  of  them  has,  moreover,  veg- 
etables and  quadrupeds  peculiar  to  itfelf,  and  which  are 
not  elfewhere  to  be  found  :    This  proves  to  a  demonftra- 
tion,   that  they  are  not  the  work  of  chance.     Finally,  a- 
mong  that  inconceivable   number   of   mountains  which 
cover  the  greateft  part  of  the  five  Zones,  and  efpecially 
the  Torrid  and  the  Icy  Zones,  ther«  is  but  one  fingle  fpe- 
cies, the  leaft  confiderable  of  all,   which  prelents  to   the 
water  courfes  projeaing  and  retreating  angles  in  corref- 
pondence.     This,   however,  is  no  more  their  work   than 
the  bafon  of  the  feas  is  itfelf  the  work  of  the  Ocean.  But 
this  interefting  fubjea,  of  an  extent  too  confiderable  to 
admit  of  its  being  here  introduced,  belongs,  befides,  to  the 
province  of  Geography. 

Let  us  now  proceed  todifplay  the  harmonies  of  aquatic 

plants. 

Thefe  have  difpofitions  entirely  different  in  their 
leaves,  the  bearing  of  their  branches,  and,  above  all,  in  the 
configuration  of  their  feeds.  Nature,  as  has  already  been 
obferved,  in  order  to  vary  her  harmonies,  only  employs, 
in  very  many  cafes,  pofitive  and  negative  charaaers.  She 
has  beftowcd  an  aqueduB  on  the  pedicle  of  the  leaves  ot 
mountain  plants ;  (lie  withdraws  it  from  thofe  which  grow 


2e4  A  VINDICATION  or 

by  the  fide  of  the  waters,  and  transforms  them  into  a«» 
quatic  plants.  Thefe,  inftead  of  having  their  leaves  hot- 
lowed  out  into  gutters,  are  clothed  with  leaves  fmooth  and 
ileek,  fuch  as  the  cornflag,  which  bears  them  in  form  of 
a  poignard's  blade,  or  fwelling  in  the  middle  like  a  fword 
blade,  as  thofe  of  the  fpecies  of  reed  called  typha,  that 
common  fort,  the  Item  of  which  the  Jews  put  into  the 
hand  of  Jesus  Christ.  Thofe  of  the  nymphaea  are 
plane,  and  rounded  in  form  of  a  heart.  Some  of  thefe  fpe- 
cies afFeft  other  forms,  but  their  long  tails  are  uniformly 
deftitute  of  a  canal.  Thofe  of  the  bulrufh  are  round  like 
a  pipe.  There  is  an  endlefs  variety  of  rulhes  on  the  brink 
of  morafTes,  rivulets  and  fountains.  You  will  find  them 
of  all  fizes,  from  thofe  which  have  the  finenefs  of  a  hair, 
up  to  the  fpecies  which  grows  in  the  river  of  Genoa,  as 
large  as  a  cane.  Whatever  difference  there  may  be  in  the 
jointing  of  their  ftalks  and  of  their  pannicles,  they  all 
have,  in  their  plan,  a  round  or  elliptical  form.  You  will 
find  thofe  fpecies  alone  which  grow  in  parched  fituations, 
to  be  fluted  and  hollowed  on  their  furface.  When  Na- 
ture intends  to  render  aquatic  plants  fufceptible  of  vege- 
tation on  the  mountains,  flie  beflows  aquedufts  on  their 
leaves ;  but  when,  on  the  contrary,  fhe  means  to  place 
mountain  plants  by  the  water's  fide,  fhe  withdraws  it.  The 
aloes  of  the  rock  has  its  leaves  hollowed  into  a  fcoop  ; 
the  aloes  of  the  water  has  them  full.  I  am  acquainted 
Avith  a  dozen  fpecies  of  mountain  fern,  every  one  of 
which  has  a  fmall  fluting  along  its  branches,  and  the  only 
fpecies  of  the  marflies,  which  1  know,  wants  it.  The 
l>earing  of  its  branches  is  likewife  very  different  from  that 
of  the  others.  The  firft  rears  them  toward  Heaven,  the 
laft  bears  them  almoft  horizontally. 

If  the  leaves  of  mountain  plants  are  con{lru6led  in  the 
beft  manner  pofTible  for  colle61ing,  at  their  roots,  the  wa- 
ters of  Heaven,  which  they  have  not  always  at  command ; 
thofe  of  aquatic  plants  are  frequently  difpofed  in  fuch  a 
Tiianner,  as  to  remove  them,  becaufc  thcv  arc  dcftined  ta 


DIVINE   PROVIDENCE.  sa^ 

grow  in  the  bofom  of  water,  or  in  its  vicinity.  The  leaves 
of  trees  which  love  the  water's  fide,  as  the  birch,  the  af- 
pin  and  the  poplar,  are  attached  to  long  and  pendent  tails.. 
There  are  others  which  bear  their  leaves  difpofed  in  form 
of  tiles,  as  the  great  chefnut  of  India  and  the  walnut. 
Thofe  of  plants  which  grow  in  the  Ihade,  around  the  trunk 
of  trees,  and  which  derive,  by  their  roots,  the  humidity 
colle6led  by  the  foliage  of  the  tree,  as  the  French  bean 
and  the  convolvulus,  have  a  fimilar  bearing.  But  thofe 
which  grow  entirely  under  the  fhade  of  trees,  and  which 
have  fcarcely  any  roots,  as  mufhrooms,  have  leaves,  that, 
fo  far  from  pointing  toward  Heaven,  are  turned  downward 
to  the  earth.  The  grcateft  part  are  formed  on  the  upper 
fide  into  a  thick  parafol,  to  prevent  the  Sun  from  drink- 
ing up  the  moiflure  of  the  foil  in  which  they  grow ;  and 
they  are  divided,  on  the  under  fide,  into  thin  leafy  plates, 
for  receiving  the  vapours  which  exhale  from  the  ground, 
nearly  as  thofe  of  the  horizontal  wheel  of  a  fire  engine 
receives  the  fteam  of  the  boiling  water  which  makes  it  to 
turn  about.  They  have,  befides,  feveral  other  means  of 
watering  themfelves  by  thefc  exhalations.  There  are  ma- 
ny numerous  fpecies,  lined  with  tubes,  others  are  iluffed 
with  fponges.  There  are  fome  whofe  pedicle  is  hollow 
inwardly,  and  w^hich,  bearing  a  chapiter  atop,  there  col- 
let! the  emanations  of  their  foil,  as  in  an  alembic.  Thus, 
there  is  not  a  particle  of  vapour  in  the  Univerfe  that  goes 
to  wafte. 

What  has  juft  now  been  faid  of  the  inverted  forms  of 
mufhrooms,  of  their  leafy  plates,  of  the  tubes  and  fponges 
with  which  they  are  lined,  for  receiving  the  vapours  ex- 
haled from  the  ground,  confirms  what  was  advanced  ref- 
pefting  the  ufe  of  the  leaves  of  mountain  plants,  hollow- 
ed into  gutters,  or  conftru61cd  into  the  form  of  a  pencil, 
or  of  a  fan,  for  receiving  the  waters  of  Heaven.  But  a- 
quatic  plants,  which  had  no  need  of  fuch  recipients,  be- 
caufe  they  thrive  in  water,  have,  if  I  may  fo  cxprefs  my- 
felf,  a  repulfiye  foliage.     I  (hall  here  prcfent  an  obje61  of 


2o6  A  VINDICATION  of 

comparifon,  calculated  to  produce  conviftion  of  the  truth 
of  thofe  principles  :  For  example,  the  mountain  box  tree, 
and  the  caper  plant  of  the  rocks,  have  their  leaves  hollow- 
ed into  a  fpoon  form,  with  the  concavity  turned  toward 
Heaven  ;  but  the  vaccinium  of  the  marfhes,  (cranberry)  or 
vaccinia  palujlris,  which  is  likewife  furnifhed  with  con- 
cave leaves,  bears  them  inverted,  with  the  cavity  turned 
toward  the  earth.  From  this  negative  charafter,  I  was 
enabled  to  diftinguifh,  as  a  plant  of  the  marlhes,  a  very 
rare  plant  in  the  Royal  Garden,  which  I  faw  for  the  firft 
time.  It  is  the  latum  palujire,  which  grows  in  the  marfhes 
of  the  Labrador  country.  Its  leaves,  formed  like  little 
coffee  fpoons,  are  all  inverted  ;  their  convex  fide  being 
turned  toward  Heaven.  The  water  lentil  of  our  marfhes, 
as  well  as  the  typha  of  our  rivers,  has  the  middle  of  its 
leaf  fwelled. 

Botanifls,  on  obferving  leaves  nearly  fimiiar  in  plants, 
on  the  brink  of  the  water,  and  on  the  heights  of  moun- 
tains, never  entertained  a  fufpicion,  that  they  could  an- 
fwer  purpofes  fo  different.  Many  of  them,  no  doubt,  are 
perfons  of  profound  erudition  ;  but  their  learning  is  ren- 
dered entirely  ufelefs  to  them,  becaufe  their  m.ethod  con- 
ilrains  them  to  proceed  in  one  fingle  track,  and  their  fyf- 
tem  indicates  to  them  only  one  kind  of  obfervations.  This 
is  the  reafon  that  their  mofl  numerous  colleftions,  fre- 
quently, prefent  nothing  but  a  mere  vocabulary.  The 
fludy  of  Nature  is  fpirit  and  intelligence  fimply.  Her 
vegetable  order  is  an  immenfe  volume  of  which  plants 
form  the  thoughts,  and  the  leaves  of  thofe  very  plants,  the 
letters.  Nay,  there  is  not  a  very  great  number  of  prim- 
itive forms  in  the  charafters  of  this  alphabet  :  But  by 
means  of  their  various  affemblages,  flie  forms,  as  we  do 
with  ours,  an  infinite  number  of  different  thoughts.  As 
it  is  with  language,  in  order  totally  to  alter  the  meaning 
of  an  expreffion,  all  that  fhe  has  in  many  cafes,  to  do,  is 
lo  change  an  accent.  She  places  ruihcs,  reeds,  arums  with 
a  fleek  foliage  and  a  full  pedicle,  on  the  banks  of  rivers ; 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  ao; 

She  traces  an  aqueduft   in  the  leaf,  and  transforms  them 
into  riifhes,  reeds  and  arums  of  the  mountains. 

We  muft,  at  the  fame  time,  be  carefully  on  our  guard 
againft  generalizing  thefe  means  ;  otherwife  they  will 
quickly  betray  us  into  a  mifapprehenfion  of  her  proce- 
dure. For  example,  certain  Botanifls,  having  fufpefted 
that  the  leaves  of  fome  plants  might  very  well  be  adapted 
for  collefting  the  rain  water,  believed  that  they  had  a  per- 
ceptien  of  this  ufe  in  that  of  the  dipfacus,  or  fullers'  thif- 
tle.  It  was  very  eafy  to  fall  into  a  millake  here,  for  the 
leaves  are  oppofite,  and  meet  at  their  bafes;  fo  that  after 
it  has  rained,  they  prefent  refervoirs,  which  contain,  one 
with  another,  a  good  half  glafs  of  water,  and  which  are 
difpofed  in  flories  along  its  flem.  But  they  ought  to  have 
confidered,  firft,  that  the  dipfacus  grows  naturally  on  the 
brink  of  waters,  and  that  Nature  does  not  beftow  cifterns 
of  water  on  aquatic  plants.  This  would  be,  according  to 
the  proverb,  to  carry  water  to  the  river.  Secondly,  they 
might  have  obferved,  that  the  tiers  formed  by  the  oppo- 
fite leaves  of  the  dipfacus^  fo  far  from  being  refervoirs, 
are,  on  the  contrary,  difchargers,  which  convey  off  the 
rain  water  from  its  roots,  to  the  di fiance  of  nine  or  ten 
inches,  on  every  fide,  by  the  extremities  of  its  leaves. 
They  refemble,  in  fome  refpefts,  the  gutters  which  pro- 
je£l  from  the  roofs  of  our  houfes,  or  thofe  which  are  form- 
ed by  the  corners  of  our  hats,  which  ferve  to  carry  away 
the  rain  water  from  the  body,  and  not  to  throw  it  inward. 
Befides,  the  water  which  remains  in  the  cavity  of  the  leaves 
of  the  dipfacus  never  can  get  down  to  the  root  of  the  plant, 
for  it  is  detained  there,  as  at  the  bottom  of  a  vafe.  It 
would  not  even  be  proper  for  moiftening  it,  for  Pliny  in- 
fills that  it  is  brackifh.  The  birch  wort,  which  grows  in 
the  trembling  and  frothy  marfhes  of  Canada,  carries,  at 
its  bafe,  two  leaves,  formed  like  the  halves  of  a  trumpet 
fawed  afunder  lengthwife.  They  are  both  concave,  but 
have,  at  the  extremity  that  is  fartheft  from  the  plant,  a 
kind  of  bill,   ihaped  like  a  fpeut.     The  water  whick  re- 


208  A  VINDICATION  of 

mains  in  die  receivers  of  tliefe  aquatic  plants,  is,  perhaps, 
deflined  to  fupply  drink  to  the  fmall  birds,  which  fome- 
times  find  themfelves  not  a  little  embarrafled  how  to  come 
at  it,  in  the  time  of  inundations. 

It  is  neceflary  careful  1)^  to  make  a  diftinftion  between 
the  elementary,  and  the  relative,  charafters  of  plants. 
Nature  obliges  the  man  who  ftudies  her,  not  to  hold  to 
external  appearances,  and,  in  order  to  form  his  underftaftd- 
ing,  (lie  makes  him  rife  from  the  means  which  fhe  em- 
ploys, to  the  ends  which  fhe  propofes.  If  certain  aquatic 
plants  feem  to  prefent,  m  their  foliage,  fome  of  the  char- 
afters  of  mountaineers,  there  are  upon  the  mountains, 
fome  which  feem  to  prefent  chara6lers  fimilar  to  thofe  of 
the  waters  ;  fuch,  for  example,  is  the  broom.  It  bears 
leaves  fo  fmall,  and  fo  few  in  number,  that  they  appear 
infufficient  for  collecling  the  water  necefTary  to  its  growth, 
and  fo  much  the  more,  that  it  thrives  in  foils  the  moft 
parched.  Nature  has  indemnified  it  in  another  manner. 
If  its  leaves  are  fmall,  its  roots  are  very  long.  They  go 
in  quell  of  coolnefs  to  a  great  diftance.  I  have  feen  fome 
of  them  extrafted  from  the  earth,  which  were  more  than 
twenty  feet  in  length,  and  it  was  neceffary,  after  all,  to 
break  them  off,  it  being  impoffible  to  reach  the  extremi- 
ties. This  prevents  not  the  fcanty  leaves  from  exhibiting 
the  mountain  charafter;  for  they  are  concave,  they  point 
toward  Heaven,  and  are  lengthened  out,  like  the  under 
bill  of  a  bird. 

The  greateft  part  of  aquatic  vegetables  throw  the  water 
off  from  them,  fome  by  their  port ;  fuch  as  the  birch,  the 
branches  of  which,  fo  far  from  rearing  themfelves  toward 
Heaven,  fall  downward,  in  form  of  an  arch.  The  fame 
thing  may  be  afhrmcd  of  the  great  chefnut  and  of  the 
walnut,  unlefs  thefe  trees  fhould  have  changed  their  nat- 
ural attitude,  by  growing  in  thirlly  fituations.  Their  bark 
is  ufually  fleck,  as  that  of  the  birch,  or  fcaly,  like  that  ol 
tlie  chefnut ;  but  not  hollowed  into  canals,  as  that  of  the 
elm,  or  the  mountain  pine.     Others  have  in  themfelves  a 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  209 

jrepuifive  quality :  Such  are  the  leaves  of  the  nymphaea, 
aiid  of  feveral  fpecies  of  colewort,  on  which  the  drops  of 
water  colle6l  into  globules,  like  the  particles  of  quickfil- 
ver.  Nay,  there  are  fome  which  it  is  extremely  difficult  to 
moillen,  fuch  as  the  ftems  of  many  fpecies  of  capillary 
plants.  The  laurel,  we  are  told,  carries  its  repulfive  qual- 
ity to  fuch  a  degree,  as  to  repel  the  thunder.  If  this  qual- 
iliy,  fo  highly  extolled  by  the  Ancients,  is  really  pofTefled 
by  the  laurel,  we  muft,  undoubtedly,  afcribe  this  to  its 
nature  as  a  fluviatic  plant.  The  laurel  grows  in  abun^ 
dance  on  the  banks  of  the  rivers  of  Theflaly.  A  traveller, 
whofe  name  is  the  Sieur  de  la  Guilletiere^'^  fays,  in  a  rela- 
tion written  in  a  very  lively  and  agreeable  manner,  that 
he  never  faw  any  where  fuch  fine  laurels  as  along  the  fide 
of  the  river  Peneus.  Hence,  perhaps,  was  fuggeffed  the 
idea  of  the  metamorphofis  oi  Daphne,  thedauahter  of  that 
river  deity,  transformed  by  Apollo  into  a  laurel. 

This  repulfive  property  of  certain  trees,  and  of  fome  a- 
quatic  plants,  induces  me  to  think  that  they  might  be  em- 
ployed around  pur  habitations,  as  a  fecurity  againft  thun- 
der florms,  and  that  in  a  manner  more  certain,  and  much 
more  agreeable,  than  eleftrical  conduftors,  which  diffipate, 
only  by  attrafting  them  to  the  neighbourhood.  They 
might  farther  be  very  advantageoufly  employed  for  drying- 
marfliy  grounds ;  as  the  attraftive  qualities  of  many  moun"^ 
tain  vegetables,  might  be  ufed  in  forming  fountains  upon 
heights,  by  collefting  there  the  vapours  which  float  in  the 
air.  There  is  not,  perhaps,  an  infeftious  morafs  on  the 
Globe,  except  in  places  where  men  have  injudicioufly 
deftroyed  the  plants  whofe  roots  abforbed  the  humidity  of 
the  Earth,  and  whofe  foliage  repelled  that  of  the  Heav- 
ens. 

I  pretend  not  to  affirm,  however,  that  the  foliage  of  a- 
quatic  plants  has  no  farther  ufes  :  For  where  is  the  man 
who  has  entered  into  the  endlefs  views   of  Nature  ?  "To 

*  Seethe  Voyage  to  Lacedemon,  by  the  Sieur  it  la  Guillctiere. 
VOL.    II.  C  C 


210  A  VINDICATION  of 

*'  whom  hath  the  root  of  wifdom  been  revealed  ?  or,  Whc^ 
*^  hath  known  her  wife  counfels  ?"  Radix  Japientia  cut 
rexjelata  eft  ?  et  aftutias  illius  qiiis  agnovit  ?*  In  general, 
the  leaves  of  aquatic  plants  appear,  from  their  extreme 
mobility,  very  much  adapted  to  the  purpofe  of  renewing 
the  air  of  humid  places,  and  of  producing,  by  their  move- 
ments, that  drying  of  the  ground  to  which  I  have  juft  al- 
luded. Such  are  thofe  of  reeds,  of  poplars,  of  afpins,  of 
birches,  and  even  of  willows,  which  afe  fometimes  in  mo- 
tion, though  there  is  not  the  flighteft  degree  of  wind  per- 
ceptible. 

It  is  farther  remarkable,  that  moft  of  thefe  vegetables 
emit  a  very  pleafing  fmell  ;  among  others,  the  poplar  and 
the  birch,  efpecially  in  the  Spring  ;  and  that  a  great  num- 
ber of  aromatic  plants  thrive  by  the  water's  fide,  as  mint, 
fweet  marjoram,  ciperus,  the  fweet  fmelling  rulh,  the  iris, 
the  calamus  aromatic  us  :  And,  in  the  Indies,  the  fpicc 
plants,  fuch  as  the  cinnamon  tree,  the  nutmeg  and  the 
clove.  Their  perfumes  muft  contribute  very  powerfully 
to  diminifli  the  mephitic  exhalations,  which  are  natural 
to  marfhy  and  humid  places.  They  have,  like  wife,  many 
ufes  relatively  to  animals,  fuch  as  affording  a  fhade  to  the 
fifhes  which  refort  thither,  in  queft  of  a  Ihelter  from  the 
fcorching  heat  of  the  Sun. 

But  one  conclufion  we  may  certainly  deduce,  in  favour 
of  our  improvements  in  culture,  from  the  obfervations 
now  made  ;  namely  this,  that  in  the  cultivation  of  plants, 
the  pedicle  of  whofe  leaves  prefents  no  imprefs  of  a  ca- 
nal, it  is  nccclfary  to  water  them  copioufly  ;  for,  in  this 
cafe,  they  are  naturally  aquatic.  The  nafturtium,  the 
mint,  and  the  fweet  marjoram,  confume  a  prodigious  quan- 
tity. But  when  plants  are  provided  with  a  canal,  they 
muft  be  watered  more  fparingly,  for  this  demonftrates 
them  to  be  originally  natives  of  the  mountains.  The 
dcjcper  this  canal  is,  the  lefs  artificial  watering  do  they  re- 

*  Ecclefiallicus.  chap.  i.  ver.  6, 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  &ti 

^uirc.     Every  gardener  knows,  that  if  you  frequently  wa- 
ter the  aloes,  or  the  taper  of  Peru,  you  will  kill  them. 

The  feeds  of  aquatic  plants  have  forms  not  lefs  adapted, 
than  thofe  of  their  leaves,  to  the  places  where  tHey  are 
deftined  to  grow  ;  they  are  all  conftru6led  in  a  manner 
the  moll  proper  for  failing  off.  Some  of  them  are  fafli- 
ioned  into  the  figure  of  (hells,  others  into  boats,  rafts, 
fkiffs,  fingle  and  double  canoes,  fimilar  to  thofe  of  the 
South  Seas.  I  can  have  no  doubt,  that,  by  an  attentive 
ffudy  of  this  part  alone,  a  great  number  of  very  curious 
difcoveries  might  be  made,  refpefting  the  art  of  crofTmg 
currents  of  every  fort ;  and  1  am  perfuaded  that  the  firll 
men,  who  were  much  better  obfervers  than  we  are,  copi- 
ed their  different  methods  of  travelling,  by  water,  after 
thofe  models  of  Nature,  of  which  we,  with  all  our  preten- 
fions  todifcovery,  are  but  feeble  imitators. 

The  aquatic,  or  maritime  pine,  has  its  kernels  inclofed 
in  a  kind  of  little  bony  fhoes,  notched  on  the  under  fide, 
and  covered  over,  on  the  upper,  with  a  piece  refembling 
a  fiiip's  hatch.  The  walnut,  which  delights  fo  much  in 
the  banks  of  rivers,  has  its  fruit  contained  in  two  little 
boats,  whofe  apertures  are  perfeftly  fitted  to  each  other. 
The  hafel,  which  becomes  fo  bufhy  on  the  brink  of  rivu- 
lets ;  the  olive,  which  is  enamoured  of  the  fea  fhore  to 
fuch  a  degree,  that  it  degenerates  in  proportion  as  you  re- 
move it  thence,  carry  their  feed  inclofed  in  a  fpecies  of 
little  cafks,  capable  of  holding  out  the  longeft  voyages. 
The  red  berry  of  the  yew,  whofe  favourite  refidenceis  the 
cold  and  humid  mountain,  by  the  fide  of  a  lake,  is  hol- 
lowed into  a  little  bell.  This  berry,  on  dropping  from 
the  tree,  is  at  firft  carried  down,  by  its  fall,  to  the  bottom 
of  the  water;  but  it  returns  inftantly  to  the  furface,  by 
means  ©fa  hole,  which  Nature  has  contrived,  in  form  of 
a  navel,  above  the  feed.  In  this  aperture  is  lodged  a  bub- 
ble of  air,  which  brings  it  back  to  the  furface  of  the  wa- 
ter, by  a  mechanifm  more  ingenious  than  that  pf  the  d'lv^ 


CIS  A  VINDICATION  of 

cr's  bell,  in  this,  that  the  vacuum  of  the  diving  bell  is  uni 
dermoft,  and  in  the  berry  of  the  yew  it  is  uppermoft. 

The  forms  of  the  feeds  of  aquatic  plants  are  ftill  more 
curious;  for,  univerfally,  Nature  redoubles  her  ikill  and 
exertions  in  favour  of  the  little  and  the  weak.  That  of 
the  bulrufh  refembles  a  lobfter's  eggs  ;  that  of  ferinel 
is  a  real  canoe  in  miniature,  hollowed  in  the  middle,  with 
both  ends  raifed  into  a  prow.  There  are  others  grooved 
into  each  other  refembling  pieces  of  wood  difpofed  for  a 
float,  and  worm  eaten  ;  fuch  are  thofe  of  the  horned  pop- 
py. Thofe  which  are  deftined  to  thrive  on  the  brink  of 
waters  deftitute  of  current,  are  wafted  by  fails  ;  fuch  is 
the  feed  of  a  fcabious  plant  of  our  own  country,  which 
grows  on  the  border  of  morafles.  Befides,  the  difference 
of  this  from  the  other  fpecies  of  fcabious,  whofe  feeds  are 
crowned  with  pronged  hairs,  in  order  to  faften  themfetves 
on  the  hairs  of  the  animals  which  tranfplant  them,  the 
one,  laft  mentioned,  is  overtopped  by  a  half  bladder  open, 
and  refting  on  its  fummit  like  a  gondola.  This  half  blad- 
der ferves  it,  at  once,  as  a  fail  by  water,  and  as  a  vehicle  by 
land.  Thefe  means  of  natation,  though  endlefsly  varied, 
are  common,  in  all  climates,  to  the  grains  of  aquatic 
plants. 

The  almond  of  the  river  of  the  Amazons,  known  by  the 
name  of  totoca,  is  inclofed  in  two  fhells,  exactly  fimilar  to 
thofe  of  an  oyfter.  Another  fruit  on  the  flrand  of  the  fame 
river,  which  abounds  in  almond  trees,  has  a  perfeft  refem- 
blance  in  colour  and  form,  to  an  earthen  pot,  with  its  little 
lid  ;*  it  goes  by  the  name  of  the  monkey's  porridge  pot. 
Others  iare  formed  into  large  bottles,  as  the.fruit  of  the  great 
<Tourd.  There  are  feeds  incrufted  in  a  coat  of  wax, 
which  makes  them  float,  fuch  are  the  berries  of  the  wax 
tree,  or  royal  pimenta  of  the  fhores  of  Louifiana.  The 
formidable  apple  of  the  mancenilla,  which  grows  on  the 

*  See  engravingi  of  mofl  of  thofe  feeds,  in  John  dt  Lad's.  Hiftory  of  the. 
V.Vlindics. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  213 

fta  ffior6  of  the  iflands  fituated  between  the  Tropics,  and 
the  fruit  of  the  manglier,  which  grows  there  a61ually  in 
the  fait  water,  are  almoft  ligneous.  There  are  others 
with  fhells  fimilar  to  the  fea  urchin,  without  prickles. 
Many  are  coupled,  and  perform  their  voyage  like  the 
double  canoe,  or  balfe,  of  the  South  Sea.  Such  is  the 
double  cocoa  of  the  Sechelies  Iflands. 

If  you  examine  the  leaves,  the  ftems,  the  attitudes 
and  the  feeds  of  aquatic  plants,  you  will  always  remark 
in  them  charafters  relative  to  the  places  where  they  are 
deftined  to  grow,  and  in  harmony  with  each  other  ;  fo 
that,  if  the  feed  has  a  nautical  form,  its  leaves  are  depriv- 
ed of  an  aqueduft  ;  juft  as  in  mountain  plants,  if  the 
grain  is  volatile,  the  pedicle  of  the  leaf,  or  the  leaf  alto- 
gether, prefents  a  channel. 

I  fhali  alTume,  as  an  inftance  of  the  nautical  harmonies 
of  plants,  the  nafturtium,  with  which  every  one  is  ac- 
quainted. This  plant  which  bears  flowers  fo  agreeable, 
is  one  of  the  crefTcs  of  the  rivulets  of  Peru.  It  muft  be 
obferved,  firft,  that  the  foot  ftalks  of  its  leaves  have  no 
conduit,  like  thofe  of  all  aquatic  plants ;  they  are  inferted 
in  the  middle  of  the  leaf,  which  they  fupport  like  aii 
umbrella,  to  ward  off  from  them  the  water  which  falls 
from  Heaven,  Its  feed,  when  frefh,  has  exaftly  the  form 
of  a  boat.  The  upper  part  is  raifed  into  a  flope,  like  a 
bridge  to  let  the  water  run  off;  and  you  diftinguifli  per- 
ieQly,  in  the  lower  part,  a  poop  and  a  prow,  a  "keel  and  a 
bottom.  fSee  the  annexed  Plate. J  The  little  furrows  of 
the  feed  of  the  nafturtium  are  charafters  comm.on  to  moft 
nautical  grains,  as  -well  as  the  triangular  forms,  and  thofc 
of  the  kidney  or  keel.  Thofe  furrows,  undoubtedly,  pre^ 
vent  them  from  rolling  about  in  all  diredions,  conftrain 
them  to  float  along  lengthwife,  and  give  them  the  direc- 
tion the  beft  adapted  to  the  track  of  the  water,  and  to 
the  paffage  of  the  narrowell  ftraits.  But  they  li^ve  a 
chara61er  ftill  more  general ;  it  is  ibis,  that  they  fwim  in 
t^^ir  ftate  of  maturity,  which  is  not  the  czfc  v'ith   "rains 


£14  A  VINDICATION  of 

deftined  to  grow  In  the  plains,  fuch  as  peafe  aud   lentils, 
which  fink  to  the  bottom. 

Some  fpccies  of  thefe,  neverthelefs,  fuch  as  the  French 
bean,  fink,  at  firft,  to  the  bottom,  and  rife  to  the  furface 
when  penetrated  with  the  water.  Others,  on  the  contra- 
ry, float  at  firft,  and  fink  afterward.  Such  is  the  I^gyp- 
tian  bean,  or  the  feed  of  the  colochafia,  which  grows  in 
the  waters  of  the  Nile.  In  order  to  fow  it,  you  are  un- 
der the  necefTity  of  rolling  it  up  in  a  ball  of  earth  ;  and  in 
that  flate  it  is  thrown  into  the  water.  Without  this  pre- 
caution, not  one  would  remain  on  the  fhorcs  where  you 
would  wifh  it  to  grow.  The  Ratability  of  aquatic  feeds 
is,  undoubtedly,  proportioned  to  the  length  of  the  voyages 
which  they  have  to  perform,  and  to  the  different  gravity 
of  the  waters  in  which  they  are  deftined  to  fwim.  There 
are  fome  which  float  in  fea  water,  and  fink  in  frefh,  which 
is  lighter  than  fea  water  by  one  thirty  fecond  part  :  Such 
precifion  is  in  the  balancing  of  Nature!  I  believe  that  the 
fruit  of  the  great  India  chefnut,  which  thrives  on  the 
(bores  of  the  fait  creeks  of  Virginia  arc  in  this  fituation. 
In  a  word,  I  am  fo  entirely  convinced  of  all  the  relations 
which  Nature  has  eftablifhed  among  her  Works,  as  to 
conclude,  that  the  time  when  the  feeds  of  aquatic  plants 
drop,  is  regulated,  in  moft  cafes,  by  that  of  the  overflow- 
ing of  the  rivers  where  they  grow^ 

It  is  a  fpcculation  well  worthy  of  the  attention  of  the 
philofophic  mind,  to  trace  thofc  vegetable  fleets  failing 
along,  night  and  day,  with  the  current  of  the  rivulets,  and 
arriving,  undircfled  by  any  pilot,  on  unknown  regions. 
There  are  fome  which,  by  the  overflowing  of  the  waters, 
now  and  then  lofe  thcmfelves  in  the  plains.  I  have  feen 
them,  fometimcs  accumulated  upon  each  other,  in  the  bed 
€f  torrents,  prelenting  around  the  pebbles  where  they  had 
germinated,  waves  of  verdure  of  the  moft  beautiful  fea 
green.  You  would  have  thought  that  Flora,  purfued  by 
fome  River  god,  had  dropped  her  bafkct  in  the  urn  of  that 
Deity.  Others  more  fortunate,  ifluing  from  the  fourccs.oi 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  ht^ 

fome  ftream,  are  caught  by  the  current  of  the  greater  riv- 
ers, and  conveyed  away  to  embellifli  their  diftant  banks 
with  a  verdure  not  their  own. 

There  are  fome  which  crofs  the  vaft  Ocean  ;  and,  after 
a  long  navigation,  are  driven,  by  the  very  tempcfts,  on 
the  regions  which  they  adorn  and  enrich.  Such  arc  the 
double  cocoas  of  the  SechcUes,  or  Mahe  Iflands,  which 
the  Sea  carries  regularly  every  year  a  diftance  of  four 
hundred  leagues,  and  lands  them  on  the  coaft  o^  Malabar. 
The  Indians,  who  inhabit  it,  were  long  under  the  perfua- 
fion,  that  thofe  annual  prefcnts  of  the  Ocean  muff  have 
been  the  produce  of  a  palm  tree  that  grew  under  its  bil- 
lows. They  gave  them  the  name  of  marine  cocoa  nuts  ; 
and  afcribed  wonderful  virtues  to  them.  They  let  as 
high  a  value  upon  them  as  upon  ambergris;  and  to  fucli 
a  pitch  was  this  extravagance  carried,  that  many  of  thofe 
fruits  have  been  fold  as  high  as  a  thoufand  crowns  a  piece. 
jBut  the  French  having,  fome  years  ago,  difcovered  the 
I  (land  of  Mahe,  which  produces  them,  and  which  is  fitu- 
ated  in  the  fiftieth  degree  of  South  Latitude,  imported 
them  in  fuch  quantities  to  India,  that  they  funk  at  once 
in  value  and  in  reputation  ;  for  men,  in  every  country, 
prize  thofe  things  only  which  are  rare  and  myllerious. 

In  every  ifland  where  the  eye  of  the  traveller  has  been 
able  to  contemplate  the  primordial  difpofitions  of  Nature, 
he  has  found  their  fhores  covered  with  vegetables,  all  the 
fruits  of  which  poflcfs  nautical  charafters.  James  Car- 
tier  and  Champlain  reprefent  the  flrands  of  the  lakes  of 
North  America  as  (haded  by  ftately  walnut  trees.  Horner^ 
who  has  fo  attentively  ftudied  Nature,  at  times,  and  in 
places,  where  fhe  flill  retained  her  virgin  beauty,  has 
planted  the  wild  olive  along  the  fhores  of  the  ifland  on 
which  lJl)Jfts^  floating  upon  a  raft,  is  thrown  by  the  tem- 
pefl.  The  navigators  who  have  made  the  firff  difcoveries 
iw  the  feas  of  the  Eafl  Indies,  frequently  found  in  them 
(hallows  planted  with  cocoa  trees.  1  he  Sea  throws  fuch 
quantities  of  fennel  feed  on  the  fhores   of  Madeira,   that 


2i6  A  VINDICATION  OF 

one  of  its  bays  has  obtained  the  name  of  Funchal,  or  Fen- 
nel Bay. 

It  was  by  the  courfe  of  thofe  nautical  feeds,  too  care- 
lefsly  obferved  by  modern  Seamen,  that  the  Savages  for- 
merly difcovered  the  iflandsto  windward  of  the  countries 
Vhich  they  inhabited.  They  formed  conje8ures  refpeft- 
ing  a  tree  at  a  great  diftance,  on  feeing  its  fruit  caft  upon 
their  fhores.  By  fimilar  indications,  Chrijiopker  Colunu 
bus  acquired  the  affurance,  that  another  world  ex i fled. 
But  the  regular  winds  and  currents  from  the  Eaft,  in  the 
South  Sea,  had  carried  them  long  before  to  the  Nations 
of  Afia  ;  of  which  I  fh all  fay  fomething  toward  the  end 
of  this  Study. 

There  are,  befides,  vegetables  of  an  amphibious  nature, 
i'l^bey  are  difpofed  in  fuch  a  manner,  that  one  part  of  their 
foliage  raifes  itfelf  toward  Heaven,  and  the  other  forms  an 
arcade,  and  bends  downward  to  the  ground.  Nature  has 
given  to  their  feeds,  likewife,  the  power  of  at  once  flying 
^uid  fwimraing.  Such  is  the  willow,  the  feed  of  which 
\%  enveloped  in  a  cobweb  down,  which  the  winds  tranf- 
port  to  a  great  diftance,  and  which  floats  ajjc^ng  the  fur- 
face  of  the  water,  without  v/etting  itfelf,  like  the  downy 
feathers  of  the  duck.  This  down  is  compofed  of  fmall 
capfules,  like  the  bottom  of  a  lamp,  and  with  two  beaks, 
filled  with  feeds,  which  are  crowned  with  a  plume  :  So 
that  the  wind  conveys  thofe  capfules  through  the  air,  and 
likewife  tranfports  them,  by  failing,  along  the  face  of  the 
water.  This  configuration  was  admirably  adapted,  to  be 
the  vehicles  of  the  feeds  of  plants  which  grow  by  the  fide 
of  ftagnant  waters  and  lakes.  The  fame  thing  holds  as 
to  the  feeds  of  the  poplar  ;  but  thofe  of  the  alder,  which 
grows  on  the  banks  of  rivers,  have  no  plumage,  becaufe 
the  current  of  the  ftream  is  defigned  to  convey  them  from 
place  to  place. 

The  feeds  of  the  fir,  and  of  the  birch,  liave,  at  once, 
volatile  and  nautical  charafters  ;  for  the  fir  has  its  kernel 
attached  to  a  membranous  wing  ;  and   the  birch  has  its 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  21; 

grain  embraced  by  two  wings,  which  give  it  the  appear- 
ance of  a  little  fhell.  Thefe  trees  grow,  at  once,  on  the 
wintry  mountains,  and  on  the  margin  of  the  lakes  of  the 
North  ;  their  feeds  had  occafion  not  only  to  fail  over 
iiagnant  waters,  but  to  be  tranfported  through  the  air  over 
the  fnows,  in  the  midfl  of  which  they  take  delight.  I 
have  no  doubt  that  there  may  be  fpecies  of  thefe  trees^ 
the  feeds  of  which  are  altogether  nautical.  Thofe  of  the 
linden  tree  are  carried  in  a  fpherical  body,  fimilar  to  a  lit- 
tle bullet.  This  bullet  is  affixed  to  a  long  tail,  from  the 
extremity  of  which  defcends  obliquely  a  follicle  of  con- 
fiderable  length,  whereby  the  wind  carries  it  away  to  a 
great  dillance,  fpinning  it  round  and  round.  When  it 
drops  into  the  water,  it  plunges  about  the  length  of  an 
inch  in  it,  and  ferves,  in  fome  fort,  as  ballaft  to  its  tail» 
and  to  the  little  leaf  attached  to  it,  which  thus,  being 
brought  to  a  vertical  fituation,  performs  the  funftions  of 
a  maft  and  a  fail.  But  the  examination  of  fo  many  curi- 
ous varieties  would  carry  me  too  far. 

This  would  be  the  proper  place  to  fpeak  of  the  roots  of 
vegetables  ;  but  1  am  little  acquainted  with  what  pafTes 
under  ground.  Befides,  in  all  Latitudes,  on  heights,  as 
well  as  by  the  water's  fide,  we  find  the  fame  fublfances 
nearly,  muds,  fands,  pure  mould,  rock,  which  muft  pro- 
duce a  much  greater  refemblance  in  the  roots  of  plants 
than  in  the  other  parts  of  their  vegetation.  I  have  no 
doubt,  however,  that  Nature  has  eflablifhed,  on  this  fub- 
jeft,  relations,  the  knowledge  of  which  would  be  hiahlv 
ufeful,  and  that  a  cultivator,  fomewhat  experienced,  mii^ht 
be  able,  by  infpeQing  the  root  of  a  vegetable,  to  deter- 
mine the  fpecies  of  foil  beft  adapted  to  it.  Thofe  which 
are  very  hairy  feem  mod  proper  for  fandy  grounds.  The 
cocoa  tree,  which  grows  to  a  very  large  fize  on  the  fhores 
of  the  Torrid  Zone,  thrives  in  pure  fand,  which  it  inter- 
laces with  fuch  a  prodigious  quantity  of  hairy  fibres,  as 
to  form  a  folid  mafs  around  it.  It  is  on  this  bafis  that  it 
cfFeftually  refifls  the  mofl  violent  tempefls,   in  the  midfl 

VOL.   II.  n  d 


&iS  A  VINDICATION  OP 

of  a  moving  foil.  What  is  fingularly  remarkable  m  the' 
cafe  of  this  plant,  it  never  fucceeds  fo  well  as  in  the  fand 
on  the  fea  fhore,  and  generally  languifiics  in  the  interior 
of  a  country. 

The  Maldivia  Iflands,  which  are,  for  the  moft  part, 
nothing  but  fandy  fhallows,  are  the  moft  renowned  regions 
of  all  Afia,  for  the  abundance  and  the  beauty  of  their  co- 
coa trees.  There  are  other  vegetables  of  the  fhores,  the 
roots  of  which  are  drawn  out  like  cords.  This  configura- 
tion renders  them  exceedingly  proper  for  binding  together 
the  ground,  and  thereby  defending  it  againft  the  inroads 
of  the  watery  element.  Such  are,  among  ourfelves,  the 
alder,  the  reed,  but,  above  all,  a  fpecies  of  dogs'  grafs, 
which  I  have  feen  very  carefully  cultivated  in  Holland  a- 
long  the  dikes. 

Bulbous  plants  appear,  in  like  manner,  to  take  pleafure 
in  foft  muds,  into  which  they  cannot  penetrate  very  far, 
from  the  roundnefs  of  their  bulbs.  But  the  elm  extends 
its  roots  at  pleafure  on  the  declivity  of  the  mountain;  and 
the  oak  inferts  his  fturdy  pivots  into  it,  to  lay  hold  of  the 
fucceflive  ffrata  of  which  it  is  compofed.  Other  plants 
preferve,  on  the  high  grounds,  by  their  creeping  foliage 
and  their  fuperficial  roots,  the  emanations  of  duft  which 
(he  winds  there  depofit.  Such  is  the  anemone  nemorofa. 
If  you  find  a  finglc  loot  of  it  on  a  hill,  in  a  wood  not 
greatly  frequented,  you  may  reft  afTured,  that  it  difFufes 
itfelf  like  a  net  work  through  the  whole  extent  of  that 
wood. 

There  are  trees,  the  trunks  and  the  roots  of  which  are 
admirably  contrafted  with  obftacles  which  appear  to  us 
accidental,  but  which  provident  Nature  forefaw.  For  ex- 
ample, the  cyprefs  of  Louifiana  grows  with  its  foot  in  the 
water,  chiefly  on  the  banks  of  the  MechafTipi,  whofe  vafl 
ihores  it  magnificently  fhades.  It  rifes  there  to  a  height 
which  furpaffes  that  of  almoft  any  of  the  trees  of  Europe.* 

*  See  Father  Ckarlsvoix'%  Ilidory  of  New  Fiance,  vol,  iv. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  ai^ 

Nature  has  given  to  the  trunk  of  this  ftately  tree,  a  en- 
cumference  of  more  than  thirty  feet,  in  order  to  enahle  it 
to  refift  the  ices  from  the  lakes  of  the  North,  which  dif- 
charge  themfelves  into  that  river,  and  the  prodigious  rafts 
of  timber  which  float  down  its  flream,  and  which  have  ob- 
ftruaed  moft  of  its  mouths  to  fuch  a  degree,  as  to  inter- 
rupt the  navigation  to  veffels  of  any  confiderable  burthen. 
And,  to  put  it  beyond  a  doubt,  that  fhe  defigncd  the  thick- 
nefs  of  its  trunk  for  withftanding  the  fliock  of  floating  bod- 
ies, it  is  remarkable,  that,  at  the  height  of  fix  feet,  ilie  fud- 
denly  diminiflies  the  fize  of  it  at  leafl  a  third,  the  full 
magnitude  having  become  fuperfluous  at  that  degree  of  el- 
evation :  And  for  the  purpofe  of  fecuring  it  in  another 
manner,  ftill  more  advantageous,  fhe  raifes  out  ot  the  root 
of  the  tree  at  four  or  five  feet  dillance  all  around,  feveral 
large  ftumps  from  one  foot  to  four  feet  high.  Thefe  are 
not  fhoots  ;  for  their  head  is  Imooth,  and  bears  neither 
leaves  nor  branches  :  They  are  real  ice  breakers. 

The  tupelo,  another  great  tree  of  Carolina,  which  grows 
likewife  by  the  water's  fide,  but  in  creeks,  has  nearly  the 
fame  dimenfions  at  its  bafe,  excepting  the  ice  breakers,  or 
pallifades.  The  feeds  of  thofe  trees  are  fluted,  as  I  have 
already  obferved  to  be  the  cafe  with  aquatic  feeds  in  gen- 
eral ;  and  that  of  the  cyprefs  of  Louifiana  differs  confider- 
ably,  by  its  nautical  form,  from  that  of  the  cyprefs  of  the 
mountains  of  Europe,  which  is  volatile.  Thefe  obferva- 
tions  are  fo  much  the  more  worthy  of  credit,  that  Father 
Charlevoix^  who,  in  part,  relates  them,  deduces  no  confc- 
quence  whatever  from  the  fafts,  though  he  was  abundant- 
ly capable  of  interpreting  their  ufe. 

It  muft  now  be  apparent  of  what  importance  it  is  to  con- 
neft  the  lludy  ot  plants  with  that  of  the  other  Works  of 
Nature.  It  is  polTible  to  afcertain,  by  their  flowers,  the 
expofure  to  the  Sun  which  is  beft  adapted  to  them  -.  By 
their  leaves,  the  quantity  of  water  that  is  necefTary  to 
them  ;  by  their  roots,  the  foil  which  is  moft  fuitable;  and 
by  their  fruits,  the  fituations   in  which  they  ouijht  to  he 


£so  A  VINDICATION  of 

placed,  together  with  new  relations  to  the  animals  whick 
feed  upon  them.  By  fruit  I  mean,  as  Botanifts  likewife 
do,  feed  of  every  fpecies. 

The  fruit  is  the  principal  charafter  of  the  plant.  Of 
this  we  may  form  a  judgment,  firft,  from  the  care  which 
Nature  has  beftowed  on  its  formation  and  prefer vation.  It 
is  the  ultimate  term  of  her  produftions.  If  you  examine, 
in  a  vegetable,  the  different  envelopes  which  inclofe  its 
leaves,  its  flowers,  and  its  fruits,  you  will  perceive  a  mod 
wonderful  progreffion  of  pains  and  precautions.  The 
fimple  leaf  buds  areeafily  diftinguifiiable  from  the  fimplic- 
ity  of  their  cafes.  Nay,  there  are  plants  which  have  none 
at  all,  as  the  fhoots  of  the  gramineous,  which  ftart  imme-. 
diately  out  of  the  earth,  and  ftand  in  no  need  of  any  for- 
eign proteftion.  But  the  buds  which  contain  flowers  are 
provided  with  flieaths,  or  lined  with  down,  as  thofe  of  the 
apple  tree  ;  or  cafed  over  with  glue  externally,  as  thofe  of 
the  great  India  cheflnut  ;  or  are  inclofed  in  bags,  as  the 
flowers  of  the  narcifl'us ;  or  fecured  in  fume  way  or  an- 
other, fo  as  to  be  very  diftinguiftiable,  even  before  their 
expanfion. 

You  afterwards  perceive,  that  the  care  employed  in 
dreiTmg  out  the  flower,  was  entirely  defl;ined  to  the  fe- 
cundation of  the  fruit  ;  and  that  when  this  is  once  form- 
ed. Nature  redoubles  her  precautions,  both  externally  and. 
internally,  for  its  prefervation.  She  gives  it  a  placenta, 
Ihe  envelops  it  in  pellicles,  in  fliells,  in  pulps,  in  pods,  in 
capfules,  in  huflcs,  in  flvins,  and  fometimes  in  a  cafe, of 
thorns.  A  mother  cannot  pay  more  attention  to  the  cra- 
dle of  her  infant.  In  proccfs  of  time,  in  order  that  her 
grown  child  may  be  enabled  to  go  abroad,  and  look  for  a 
fettlement  in  the  world,  (lie  crowns  it  with  a  tuft  of  plu- 
mage, or  inclofes  it  in  a  fhell  :  Furnifhes  it  with  wings  to 
fly  away  through  the  air,  or  with  a  bark  to  fail  off  along 
the  face  of  the  water. 

There  is  fomething  flill  more  marked,  to  arrcff  our  ob- 
fervation,  in   favour  of  the  fruit.     It  is  this,  that  Nature 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  221 

frequently  varies  the  leaves,  the  flowers,  the  Hems,  and 
the  roots  of  a  plant ;  but  the  fruit  remains  conftantly  the 
fame,  if  not  as  to  its  form,  at  lead  as  to  its  eiTential  fub- 
ftance.  I  am  perfuaded  that,  when  fhe  was  pleafed  to 
create  a  fruit,  it  was  her  intention  that  it  (hould  have  the 
power  of  reproducing  itfelf  on  the  mountains,  in  the 
plains,  amidft  rocks,  in  fands,  on  the  brink  of  waters,  and 
under  different  Latitudes  ;  and,  in  order  to  adapt  it  to  its 
fituation,  flie  varied  the  watering  pot,  the  mirror,  the  prop, 
the  attitude,  the  buttrefs,  and  the  fur  of  the  vegetable, 
correfpondingly  to  the  Sun,  to  the  rains,  to  the  winds  and 
to  the  foil.  To  this  intention,  I  believe,  we  ought  to  af- 
cribe  the  prodigious  variety  of  fpecies  in  every  genus, 
and  the  degree  of  beauty  which  each  attains,  when  in  the 
fituationthatis  natural  to  it.  Thus,  in  forming  the  cheft- 
nut  to  reach  perfeftion  on  the  llony  mountains  of  the 
South  of  Europe,  and  to  fupply  the  want  of  corn,  which 
fcarcely  fucceeds  there,  ilie  placed  it  on  a  tree  which  in 
thofe  regions  attains  magnificence  from  its  adaptations. 

I  have  eaten  of  the  fruit  of  the  cheftnut  tree  of  the  If- 
land  of  Corfica.  It  is  as  large  as  fmall  hens'  eggs,  and 
makes  excellent  food.  You  may  read,  in  a  modern  trav- 
eller, the  defcription  of  a  cheftnut  tree,  which  grcv/  in  Si- 
cily, on  one  of  the  ridges  of  Mount  ^tna.  Its  foliacre  is 
of  fuch  extent,  that  a  hundred  cavaliers  could  repofe  with 
eafe  under  its  fhade.  For  that  reafon  it  obtained  the  name 
of  centum  cavallo.  Father  Kircher  alTures  us,  tliat  he  had 
feen,  on  the  fame  mountain,  in  a  place  called  Treca/lap-ne, 
three  cheftnut  trees  of  fuch  a  prodigious  fize,  that  when 
they  were  felled,  you  might  have  lodged  a  large  flock  of 
fhcep  under  covert  of  their  bark.  The  fliepherds  empiov- 
ed  them  for  this  purpofe,  in  the  night  time,  and  in  bad 
weather,  inftead  of  penning  up  their  charge  in  the  fold. 
Nature  has  granted,  to  this  ftatcly  vegetable,  the  faciiltv 
of  colletiing,  on  the  ftcep  mountains,  the  waters  of  the 
Atmofphere,  by  means  of  leaves  formed  like  fo  many 
^pngues  j  and  of  penetrating,  by  means  of  its^  fiurdy  roots. 


!222 


A  VINDICATION  OF 


down  to  the  very  bed  of  fountains  in  defpite  of  lavas  and 
rocks. 

Nature  has  been  pleafed,  elfewhere,  to  produce  the  fruit 
of  this  tree  with  a  degree  of  bitternefs,  for  the  ufe  of  fome 
animal  no  doubt,  on  the  brink  of  the  fait  water  creeks, 
smd  arms  of  the  Sea,  in  Virginia.  She  has  bellowed  on 
the  tree  which  bears  it,  leaves  difpofed  in  form  of  a  tile, 
a  fcaly  bark,  flowers  different  from  thofe  of  the  European 
cheftnut  tree,  but  adapted,  unqueftionably,  to  the  humid 
exhalations,  and  to  the  afpefts  of  the  Sun  to  which  it  is 
expofed.  In  a  word,  ftie  has  transformed  it  into  the  great 
India  cheftnut.  It  arrives  at  much  greater  beauty  in  its 
native  country,  than  in  Europe.  That  of  America  is  the 
maritime  cheflnut  tree ;  and  that  of  Europe  is  the  cheftnut 
tree  of  the  mountains.  She  has  placed,  perhaps  by  a  dif- 
ferent kind  of  combination,  this  fruit,  on  the  beech  tree 
of  our  hills,  the  maft  of  which  is  evidently  a  fpecies  of 
cheftnut. 

Finally,  by  means  of  one  of  thofe  maternal  attentions 
which  have  induced  her  to  fufpend,  even  on  herbs,  the 
produ6iions  of  trees,  and  to  ferve  up  the  fame  diflies  on 
the  fmalleft  tables,  fhe  has  placed  before  us  the  fame  fruit 
in  the  grain  of  the  black  corn,  which,  in  its  colour,  and 
its  triangular  form,  refembles  the  feed  of  the  beech,  called 
in  hztin  Jhgus,  wlience  this  fpecies  of  corn  has  obtained 
the  nam^e  oifagopyrwii.  One  thing,  at  any  rate,  is  cer- 
tain, namely,  that  independent  of  the  mealy  fubftance,  we 
find,  in  the  black  corn,  in  the  beechmaft,  and  in  the  cheft- 
nut, fimilar  properties,  fuch  as  that  of  cooling  exceflive 
heat  of  urine* 

It  was,  in  like  manner,  the  intention  of  Nature  to  pro- 
duce the  acorn,  in  a  great  variety  of  expofures.  Fliny 
enumerated,  in  his  time,  thirteen  different  fpecies  in  Eu- 
rope, one  of  them,  wliich  makes  very  excellent  food,  is 
that  of  tlie  green  oak.     It  is  of  this  that  the  Poets  fpcak, 

^  Sec  C/wfljc/'s  Treaiireon  Corornon  Plants. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  ^23 

when  they  celebrate  the  felicity  of  the  Golden  Age,  be- 
caufe  its  fruit  then  ferved  as  an  aliment  to  Man.  It  is 
worthy  of  being  remarked,  that  there  is  not  a  fingle  genus 
of  vegetable,  but  what  gives  in  fome  one  of  its  fpecies,  a 
fubftance  capable  of  being  converted  into  nourilhment  for 
mankind.  The  acorn  of  the  green  oak  is,  among  the  fruits 
of  this  genus  of  trees,  the  portion  referved  for  our  ufe. 
Nature  has  been  pleafed,  after  making  this  provifion  for 
Man,  to  fcatter  the  other  fpecies  of  the  oak  over  the  dif-« 
ferent  foils  of  America,  to  fupply  the  neceffities  of  her 
other  creatures.  She  has  preferved  the  fruit,  and  has  va- 
ried the  other  parts  of  the  vegetable.  She  has  placed  the 
acorn,  but  with  the  leaves  of  the  willow,  on  the  plant, 
which  has,  for  that  reafon,  got  the  name  of  the  willow 
leafed  oak,  and  which  thrives  in  that  country  by  the  wa- 
ter's fide.*  She  has  placed  it,  together  with  fmall  and 
pendent  leaves  affixed  to  pliant  tails,  like  thofe  of  the  af- 
pin,  on  the  water  oak,  which  grows  there  in  the  marfhes. 
But  when  flie  intended  to  plant  them  in  dry  and  parched 
foils,  fhe  united  to  them  leaves  of  ten  inches  in  breadth, 
adapted  to  the  reception  of  rain  water,  fuch  are  thofe  of 
the  fpecies  known  by  the  name  of  the  black  oak  in  that 
country. 

It  may  be  neceffary  farther  to  obferve,  that  the  place 
where  any  fpecies  of  plant  produces  the  fineft  fruit,  deter- 
mines its  principal  genus.  Accordingly,  though  the  oak 
has  its  fpecies  fcattered  about  every  where,  it  mufl  be  con- 
fidered  as  of  the  genus  of  mountain  trees  ;  becaufe  that 
which  grows  on  the  mountains  of  America,  and  there  dif- 
tinguifhed  by  the  name  of  the  cheftnut  leafed  oak,  yields 
the  largeft  acorns,  and  is  one  of  the  greateil  trees  in  that 
part  of  the  world  ;  whereas  the  water  oak,  and  the  willow 
leafed  oak,  rife  to  no  great  height,  and  produce  very  fmal! 
acorns. 


*  See  the  figures  of  It  in  Father  Charlevoix's  Hlfiory  of  New  France, 
vol.  iv. 


I 


fe£4  A  VIxXDICATION  of 

The  fruit  as  wc  have  feen,  is  the  invariable  charafler 
of  the  plant.  To  it,  accordingly,  Nature  has  likewife  at- 
tached the  principal  relations  of  the  animal  kingdom  to 
the  vegetable  kingdom.  It  was  her  intention  that  an  ani- 
mal of  the  mountains  fhould  find  the  fruit,  on  v/hich  he 
has  been  accu domed  to  live,  in  the  plains,  on  the  fand, 
am.ong  the  rocks,  when  he  is  under  the  neceility  of  chang- 
ing his  country,  and  efpecially  on  the  brink  of  rivers, 
when  he  defcends  thither  to  quench  his  thirfl.  I  am  not 
acquainted  with  a  fmgle  mountain  plant  but  what  has  fome 
of  its  fpecies,  with  their  correfponding  varieties,  fcatter- 
ed  over  all  fituations,  but  principally  on  the  margin  of 
waters. 

The  mountain  pine  has  its  kernels  mounted  on  wings, 
and  the  aquatic  pine  has  its  feed  inclofed  in  a  fkiff.  The 
feeds  of  the  thiflle,  which  grows  on  a  parched  foil,  are 
furniflied  with  plumes,  to  convey  them  from  place  to 
place  :  Thofe  of  the  fullers'  thillle,  which  thrives  by  the 
v/ater's  fide,  have  none,  becaufe  they  had  no  occafion  for 
any  to  affift  them  in  fwimming.  Their  flowers  vary  for 
fimilar  reafons  ;  and  though  Botanifts  have  made  two  dif- 
ferent genera  of  them,  the  goldfinch  fails  not  to  acknowl- 
edge this  lafl;  as  a  real  thillle.  He  refts  himfelf  upon  it, 
when  he  finds  it  convenient  to  go  and  cool  himfelf  on 
fome  watery  bank.  He  forgets,  on  beholding  his  favour- 
ite plant,  the  fandy  downs  where  he  was  born,  and  cheers 
the  banks  of  the  rivulet,  with  the  mufic  of  his  fong,  and 
the  beauty  of  his  plumage. 

It  appears  to  me  impofiible  to  acquire  any  thing  like  a 
knowledge  of  plants,  unlefs  by  fludying  their  geography, 
and  their  ephemeris.  Without  this  double  illumination, 
which  mutually  rcflc61s,  their  forms  will  be  forever  ftrange 
to  us.  The  greatefl  part  of  Botanifts,  however,  pay  no 
manner  of  regard  to  this.  In  making  their  colleftions, 
they  remark  not  the  feafon  at  which  plants  grow,  nor  the 
place  where,  nor  the  afpeft  to  which  they  are  expofed. 
They  carefully  attend   to  ail  their  intrinfic  parts,  and  cf- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  8*5 

pccially  to  their  flowers  ;  and  after  this  mechanical  exam- 
ination, depofit  them  in  their  herbary,  and  imagine  they 
have  a  thorough  knowledge  of  them,  efpecially  if  they 
have  had  the  good  fortune  to  dignify  them,  by  impofing 
fome  Greek  name.  They  refemble  a  certain  hulfar,  ol 
whom  1  have  heard,  who,  having  happened  to  find  a  Latin 
infcription  in  brazen  charafters,  on  an  antique  monument, 
difengaged  them  one  after  another,  and  tumbled  them  to- 
gether into  a  baiket,  which  he  difpatched  to  an  Antiquari- 
an of  his  friends,  with  arequeft  that  he  would  inform  him 
what  they  meant.  They  no  more  lead  us  to  an  acquaint- 
ance with  Nature,  than  a  Grammarian  would  give  us  a 
relifli  for  the  genius  of  Sophocles,  by  prcfenting  us  with  a 
naked  catalogue  of  his  tragedies,  of  the  divifion  of  their 
a6ls  and  fcenes,  and  of  the  number  of  verfes  which  com- 
pofe  them.  With  equal  abfurdity  are  they  chargeable  who 
colleft  plants,  without  marking  their  relations  to  each 
other,  and  to  the  elements ;  ihey  fcrupuloufly  preferve 
the  letter,  but  fupprefs  the  fenfe  of  it.  Far  different  was 
the  manner  in  which  a  Tournefort,  a  Vaillant,  a  Linnaus, 
profecuted  the  ftudy  of  Botany.  If  thefe  learned  men 
have  not  deduced  any  confequence  from  thofe  relations, 
they  have^  at  leaft,  prepared  the  proje6ling  ftones  of  ex- 
peftation,  which  promife  the  conflru6lion  of  a  future  fab- 
ric of  fcience. 

Though  the  obfervations  which  1  have  juft  made,  ref- 
pefting  tlie  elementary  harmonies  of  plants,  are  but  few  in 
number,  I  have  the  confidence  to  af&rm,  that  they  are  or 
very  high  importance  to  the  progrefs  of  agriculture.  The 
point  in  queftion  is  not  to  determine  geometrically  the 
genera  of  flowers,  whofe  mirrors  are  the  beft  adapted  for 
refletfing  the  rays  of  the  Sun  in  every  point  of  Latitude  ; 
the  glory  of  calculating  their  curves  is  referved  for  future 
Newtons.  Nature  has  outrun  our  moft  ardent  wiflies,  iu 
thofe  places  where  fhe  has  been  left  at  liberty  to  rceftab- 
lifh  her  own  plans.  We  have  it  in  our  power  to  fccure 
profperitv  to  ours,  in  a  manner  the  moli  beneficial,  byre- 

voi.  II,  j:  e 


226  A  VINDICATION  of 

ducing  them  into  harmony  with  hers.  In  order  to  afcertai« 
what  plants  are  beft  adapted  to  fucceed  in  fuch  and  fuch  a 
diftrift,  you  have  only  to  pay  attention  to  the  wild  plants 
which  thrive  there  fpontaneoufly,  and  which  are  diftin- 
guifhable  for  their  vigor  and  for  their  multitude  :  Then 
fubftitute  in  their  place  domeftic  plants,  which  have  the 
fame  kind  of  flowers  and  leaves.  Wherever  umbelliferous 
plants  grow,  you  may  put  in  their  room  fuch  of  our  cu- 
iinary  vegetables  as  have  moft  analogy  with  them,  from 
their  leaves,  their  flowers,  their  roots  and  their  grains,  fuch 
as  the  daucus  genus  :  The  artichoke  will  there  ufefuUy  re- 
place the  gaudy  thiftle  ;  the  domeftic  plum  tree  ingrafted 
on  a  wild  ftock  of  the  fame  plant,  in  the  very  place  where 
this  laft  fpontaneoufly  fprung  up,  will  become  extremely 
vigorous.  I  am  perfuaded  that  by  thefe  natural  approxi- 
mations, advantage  might  be  derived  from  the  moft  bar- 
ren fands  and  rocks  ;  for  there  is  not  a  Angle  genus  of 
wild  plants  but  what  contains  a  fpecies  fit  for  food. 

But  it  was  not  fuflicient  for  Nature  to  have  eftabliflied 
fo  many  harmonies  between  plants,  and  the  fituations  in 
which  they  were  deftined  to  vegetate,  had  ftie  not  like- 
wife  provided  means  for  reftoring  them,  when  deftroyed 
by  the  intolerant  culture  of  Man.  Let  a  piece  of  ground 
be  left  uncultivated,  for  ever  fo  fliort  a  fpace  of  time,  and 
you  will  prefently  fee  it  clothed  with  vegetables.  They 
grow  there  in  fuch  numbers,  and  fo  vigoroufly,  that  there 
is  no  huflDandman  capable  of  producing  an  equal  quantity, 
on  the  fame  fpot,  let  him  take  what  pains  he  will.  Thefe 
ihoots,  however,  {^o  vigorous  and  fo  rapid,  which  fre- 
quently take  pofl'eflion  of  our  dock  yards  of  free  ftone,  ot 
our  walls  of  afhlar,  and  of  our  courts  paved  with  granite, 
are,  in  many  cafes,  only  a  provifional  culture.  Nature, 
Avho  is  always  advancing  from  harmony  to  harmony,  till 
Ihe  has  attained  that  point  of  perfcftion  which  flic  pro^ 
pofed  to  herfelf,  fows,  at  fir  ft,  with  grafl^es  and  herbage  of 
different  fpecies,  all  abandoned  foils,  waiting  for  an  op  • 
*)ortunity   of  exerting  her  powers,  to  raife  on  that  very 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  227 

fppt  vegetables  of  a  higher  order.  On  the  rude  negkaed 
diftrias,  where  barren  downs  alone  meet  our  eyes,  poller- 
ity  may  behold  ftately  forefts  arife. 

We  (hall  throw,  as  our  cuflom  is,  a  fuperficial  glance 
on  the  very  ingenious  methods  which  Nature  employs  for 
preparing  and  conducing  thofe  vegetable  progrefTions, 
We  fhall  hence  attain  a  glimpfe,  at  lead,  not  only  of  the 
elementary  relations  of  plants,  but  of  thofe  which  exift 
between  their  different  claffes,  and  which  extend  even  to 
the  animal  kingdom.  Vegetables,  which  are  the  moft  con- 
temptible in  the  eyes  of  Man,  are  frequently  the  moft  nec- 
cffary  in  the  order  of  Creation. 

The  principal  means  employed  by  Nature  for  fecuring 

the  growth  of  plants   of  every  fpecies,  are  the  thorny 

plants.     It  is  very  remarkable,  that  plants  of  this  defcrip- 

tion  are  the  firft  which  appear  on   lands  in   fallow,  or  in 

forefts  which  have  been  cut  down.     They  are,   in  truth, 

wonderfully  well  adapted  to  promote  foreign  vegetations, 

becaufe  their  leaves  with  deep  incifions,  like  thofe  of  the 

thiftle  and  echium,   or  their   fprigs   bent  into  an  arch,  as 

thofe  of  the  bramble,  or  their   horizontal  and  interlaced 

branches,  like  thofe  of  the  black  thorn,   or  their  boughs 

briftled  with  briars   and  unprovided  with   leaves,  as  thofe 

of  the  fea  rufti,  leave  underneath  and  around   them  many 

intervals  through  which  other  vegetables   may  arife,   and 

find  proteftion  from  the  tooth  of  moft  quadrupeds.     Nur- 

feries  of  trees  arb  frequently  to  be  found  in  their  bofom. 

Nothing  is  more  common  in  coppice  woods   than  to  fee  a 

young  oak  ftart  out   of  a  tuft  of  brambles,  which  enamels 

the  earth  all  around,  with  its  ciufters  of  prickly  flowers ; 

or  a  young  pine  arife  out  of  a  yellow  brake   of  marine 

rufhes. 

When  thefe  trees  have  once  acquired  a  certain  degree 
of  growth  and  fize,  they  ftifle,  by  their  ftiade,  thofe  thorny 
plants,  which  fubfift  no  longer,  except  along  the  flurts  of 
the  woods,  where  they  enjoy  air  fufficient  for  their  vege- 
tation.    But  in  this  fituation,  fuch  plants  are   ftill  going 


tzS  A  VrNDICATION  of 

on  to  extend  the  empire  of  their  fuperiors,  from  year  tb' 
year,  over  the  plains.  Thus,  the  thorny  plants  are  the  o- 
ria;inal  cradles  of  the  forefts;  and  the  fcourge  of  the  agri- 
culture of  Man,  is  the  buhvark  of  that  of  Nature. 

Man  has,  however,  imitated,  in  this  refpc6l,  the  procefTes 
of  Nature  ;  for  it  he  wiihes  to  prote6l  the  newly  fown 
feeds  of  his  garden,  he  finds  it  frequently  neceflary  W  cover 
them  with  prickly  branches  of  one  fort  or  another.  It 
appears  to  me  probable,  that  there  is  not  a  heath  but  what, 
in  time,  migJit  become  a  foreft,  were  their  commoners  re- 
flrained  from  driving  their  flocks  thither  to  pafture,  for 
the  cattle  crop  the  te.nder  (hoots  of  the  trees  as  faft  as  they 
fpring  up.  This,  in  my  opinion,  is  the  reafon  why  the 
declivities  of  the  lofty  mountains  of  Spain,  of  Perfia  and 
of  many  other  parts  of  the  World,  are  not  clothed  with 
trees  :  It  is  becaufn?  of  the  numerous  flocks  of  fheep  which 
are  driven  thither,  in  Summer,  and  which  roam  over  their 
different  chains.  I  am  fully  convijiced  that  thofe  moun- 
tains were  covered,  in  the  earlier  ages  of  the  World,  with 
foreffs  which  were  laid  low  by  their  firfl  inhabitants  ;  and 
that  they  would  refumc  their  ancient  clothing,  though  now 
naked  and  defert,  were  the  cattle  to  paflure  on  them  no 
longer.  It  is  very  remarkable,  that  thofe  elevated  regions 
are  fowed  over  with  prickly  plants,  juft  as  our  heaths  gen- 
erally are. 

Don  Garcias  de  F^gueroa,  AmbafTador  from  Spain  at 
the  Court  of  CA*^  Abas,  King  of  Perfia,  relates,  in  the  ac- 
count which  he  has  given  of  his  journey,  that  the  lofty 
mountains  of  Perfia,  which  he  croffed,  and  where  the  Tur- 
comans are  continually  ftraying,  as  they  tend  their  fleecy 
charge,  were  covered  with  a  fpecies  of  thorny  flirub, 
which  grew  luxuriantly  in  the  mofl  parched  fituations. 
This  fame  flirubbery  ferved  as  a  retreat  to  a  great  number 
of  partridges. 

From  this  circumflance  we  take  occafion  to  obferve, 
that  Nature  employs  the  birds,  particularly,  to  fow  the 
Uwrnv  plants  in  places  the  fl:eepcft  and  moll  inacceffible. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  2ig 

They  are  accuftomed  to  retire  thither  in  the  night,  and 
there  depofit.  with  their  dung,  the  ftony  feeds  of  the  bram- 
ble berry,  of  the  berry  of  the  eglantine,  of  the  barberry 
and  of  moll  thorny  flirubs,  which,  from  relations  no  lefs 
wonderful,  are  indigeftible  in  their  ftomach. 

Birds  have,  befideS,  particular  harmonies  with  thofe  veg- 
etables, as  we  fhall  make  appear  in  its  proper  place.  Noc 
only  do  they  find  on  them  a  plentiful  fupply  of  food,  and 
ihelter  under  them,  but  downs  for  lining  their  nefts,  as  on 
thiltles,  and  on  the  cotton  tree  of  America;  fo  that  if  ma- 
ny of  them  refort  tor  fafety  to  the  elevation  of  towering 
trees,  others  find  it  in  the  thorny  brake.  There  is  not  a 
Cngle  bulli  but  what  has  its  peculiar  bird. 

Independently  of  the  plants  proper  to  each  fituation, 
and  which  are  there  domefticated,  there  are  fome  in  a  ftate 
of  incelTant  peregrination,  and  flit  round  the  earth,  with- 
out fettling  in  any  fixed  abode.  We  can  eafily  have  a 
conception  of  the  caufe  of  this  conftant  removal,  by  fup- 
pofing,  what  is  aftually  the  truth,  that  feveral  of  fuch 
plants  fhed  their  feeds  only  at  the  feafon  when  certain  reg- 
ular winds  blow,  or  at  certain  revolutions  of  the  currents 
of  the  Ocean.  Whatever  may  be  in  this,  I  am  of  opinion 
that  we  mufl  rank,  under  this  defcription,  many  plants 
which  were  known  to  the  Ancients,  but  are  not  now  to 
be  found.  Such,  among  others,  is  the  celebrated  laztr^ 
pitium  of  the  Romans,  the  juice  of  which,  called  lazer, 
fold  for  its  weight  in  filver.  This  plant,  according  to 
Pliny^  grew  in  the  vicinity  of  the  city  of  Corenum,  in 
Africa  ;  but  had  become  fuch  a  rarity  in  his  time  as  hard- 
ly any  where  to-be  feen.  He  tells  us  that  a  fingle  plant 
of  it  had  been  found,  under  the  reign  of  Nero^  and  that 
it  was  fent  to  this  Prince  as  a  great  curiofity. 

Modern  Botanifls  pretend,  that  the  lazerpitium  is  the 
fame  plant  with  xh^  filphium  of  our  gardens.  But  they 
are  evidently  in  an  error,  from  the  defcriptions  which  the 
Ancients,  and,  among  others,  Pliny  and  Diojcondes  have 
left  us  of  it.     F©r  my  own  part,  I  have  n©  doubt  that  the 


fiQO 


A  VlNDICATIOx\  or 


Jazcrpitium  is  of  the  number  of  the  vegetables  which  arc^ 
cleflined  to  flit  along  the  Earth,  from  Eaft  to  Weft,  and 
from  Weft  to  Eaft.  It  is,  perhaps,  at  prefent,  on  the  weft- 
ern  fliores  ot  Africa,  whither  the  eafterly  winds  may  have 
conveyed  its  feeds ;  perhaps,  likewife,  by  the  revolutions 
of  the  wefterly  winds,  it  may  have  returned  to  the  place 
where  it  was  in  the  days  of  Augujius  ;  or  it  may  have  been 
conveyed  into  the  plains  oi  Ethiopia,  among  Nations 
totally  unacquainted  with  its  pretended  wonderful  qual- 
ities. 

Pliny  enumerates  a  great  many  other  vegetables,  which 
are,  at  this  day,  to  us  equally  unknown.  It  may  merit 
obfervcition,  that  thofe  vegetable  apparitions  have  been 
contemporary  witli  feveral  fpecies  of  flitting  birds,  which 
have  likewife  difappeared.  It  is  well  known  that  there 
are  feveral  clalTes  of  birds,  and  of  fifties,  which  do  noth- 
ing but  migrate  inceffantly  over  the  Earth  and  through 
the  Seas  ;  fome,  in  a  certain  revolution  of  days  ;  other*} 
at  the  end  of  a  certain  period  of  years.  Many  plants  may- 
be fubjected  to  a  ftmilar  deftiny.  This  Law  extends  even 
to  the  Heavens,  in  which  fome  new  ftar  is,  from  time  to 
time,  making  its  appearance.  Nature,  as  I  think,  has  dif- 
pofcd  her  Works  in  fuch  a  manner,  as  to  have  always 
fome  novelty  in  refervc,  in  order  to  keep  Man  continual- 
ly in  cxcrcife.  She  has  eftablifhed,  in  the  duration  ot  the 
exiftence  of  the  different  beings  of  each  kingdom,  con- 
certs of  a  moment,  of  an  hour,  of  a  day,  of  a  moon,  of  a. 
vear,  of  the  life  of  a  man,  of  the  duration  of  a  cedar,  and, 
perhaps,  of  that  of  a  globe  :  But  this,  undoubtedly,  is 
known  to  the  Supreme  Being  alone. 

I  am  perfuaded,  at  the  fame  time,  that  the  greatcft  part 
of  fliitiiiiT  pk^nts  muft  have  a  principal  centre,  fuch  as  a 
ftccp  rock,  or  an  ifland  in  the  midft  of  the  Sea,  from 
whence  they  diftufe  thcmfelves  over  all  the  reft  of  the 
Tvorld.  This  leads  me  to  deduce,  what  I  confider  as  an 
irrerrajTiihle  argument  in  fupport  of  the  recent  Creation 
of  our  Globe  ;  it  is  this,  were  the  Globe  of  very  remote 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  231 

antiquity,  all  the  pofTible  combinations  of  the  propagation 
of  plants  by  feed,  would  have  been  already  completed  all 
over  the  World.  Thus,  for  example,  there  would  not 
be  an  uninhabited  ifland  and  fhore  of  the  Seas  ol  India, 
which  you  would  not  find  planted  with  cocoa  trees,  and 
fown  with  cocoa  nuts,  which  the  Ocean  wafts  thither  ev- 
ery year,  and  which  it  fcatters  alternately  on  their  ftrands, 
by  means  of  the  variety  of  Jts  ^nonfoons  and  ol  its  cur- 
rents. Now,  it  is  unqueftionably  certain,  that  the  radia- 
tions of  that  tree  and  its  fruit,  the  principal  focufles  of 
which  are  in  the  Maldivia  Iflands,  are  not  hitherto  diffuf- 
ed  over  all  the  iflands  of  the  Indian  Ocean. 

The  Philofopher  Francis  Leguat,  and  his  unfortunate 
companions,  who  were,  in  the  year  1690,  the  firft  inhab- 
itants of  the  fmall  Ifland  of  Rodriguez,  which  lies  a  hun- 
dred leagues  to  the  eaftward  of  the  Ifle  of  France,  found 
no  cocoa  trees  in  it.  But,  precifely  at  the  period  of  their 
ftiort  refldence  there,  the  Sea  threw  upon  the  coafl  fev- 
eral  cocoa  nuts  in  a  Hate  of  germination  ;  as  if  it  had  been 
the  intention  of  Providence  to  induce  them,  by  this  ufeful 
and  feafonable  prefent,  to  remain  on  that  ifland,  and  to 
cultivate  it. 

Francis  Leguat,  who  was  unacquainted  with  the  rela- 
tions which  feeds  have  to  the  element  in  which  they  are  de- 
figned  to  grow,  was  very  much  aftonifhed  to  find  that 
thofe  fruits,  which  weighed  from,  five  to  fix  pounds,  ir-uft 
have  performed  a  voyage  ot  fixty  or  lourfcore  leagues,  with- 
out being  corrupted.  He  took  it  for  granted,  and  he  was 
in  the  right,  that  they  came  from  the  Ifland  of  St.  Brande, 
which  is  fituated  to  the  North  Eaft  of  Rodriguez.  I'hofG 
two  defert  iflands  had  not,  as  yet,  from  the  Creation  of 
the  World,  communicated  to  each  other  all  their  vegeta- 
bles, though  fituated  in  a  current  of  the  Ocean  v.'hich  fets 
in  alternately,  in  the  courfe  of  one  year,  for  fix  months 
toward  the  one,  and  fix  months  toward  the  otiier. 

However  this  m,ay  be,  the}'  p lamed  tliofe  cocoa  nuts, 
which,  in  the  fpace  of  a  vear  and  a  half,   fent  out  flioou 


232  A  VINDICATION  of 

ol"  tour  feet  in  height.  A  blefling  from  Heaven,  fo  dif. 
tinftly  marked,  had  not  the  power  of  detaining  them  in 
that  happy  ifland.  An  inconfiderate  defire  of  procuring 
for  themfclves  women  con  drained  them  to  abandon  it, 
notwithftanding  the  remonilrances  of  Legiiat^  and  plunged 
them  into  a  long  feries  of  calamities,  which  few  of  them 
were  able  to  furvive.  For  my  own  part,  1  can  entertain 
no  doubt,  that  had  they  repofed  that  confidence  in  Provi- 
dence which  they  had  reafon  to  do,  its  care  would  have 
conveyed  wives  tor  them  into  that  defert  Ifland,  as  it  had 
fent  to  them  the  gift  of  the  cocoa  nut. 

To  return  to  the  fubj eft  of  vegetable  navigation;  all 
the  combinations  and  the  verfatilitics  of  their  fowings, 
would  have  been  long  ago  completed  in  iflands  lying  be- 
tween the  fame  parallels,  and  in  the  fame  monfoons,  if 
the  World  had  been  eternaL  The  double  cocoa  nuts,  the 
nurferies  of  which  are  in  the  Sechelles  Iflands,  would 
have  diffufed  themfelves,  and  would  have  had  time  to 
germinate  on  the  Malabar  coaft,  on  which  the  Sea  is  from 
time  to  time  throwing  them.  The  Indians  would  have 
planted  upon  their  fliores  thofe  fruits  to  which  they  af- 
cribed  virtues  fo  miraculous,  while  the  palm  tree,  which 
bears  them,  was  fo  entirely  unknown  but  twelve  years  ago 
to  the  people  of  this  coaft,  that  they  believed  them  to  be 
natives  of  the  bottom  of  the  Sea,  and  thence  gave  them  the 
appellation  of  marine  cocoa  nuts.  There  ai^e,  in  like  man- 
ner, a  multitude  of  other  fruits  between  the  Tropics,  of 
which  the  primordial  ftocks  are  in  the  Moluccas,  in  the 
Phillippines,  in  the  iflands  of  the  South  Sea,  and  which 
are  entirely  unknown  on  the  coafts  of  both  Continents, 
and  even  in  the  adjacent  iflands,  which,  undoubtedly, 
would  have  become  there  the  objc£ls  of  cultivation  to 
their  inhabitants,  had  the  Sea  been  allowed  fufficieiit  time 
to  multiply  the  projeftlon  oF  them  on  their  fliores. 

1  fliall  purfue  this  reflection  no  farther  ;  but  it  evident- 
ly dcmonftrates  thenewnefs  of  the  World.  V/ere  it  eter- 
nal, and  exempted  from  the  care  of  a  Providence,  its  veg- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE, 


'33 


stables  would  long  fince  have  undergone  all  the  p©flible 
combinations  of  the  chance  which  refows  them.  We 
fhould  find  their  different  fpecies  in  every  fituation  where 
it  was  poflible  for  them  to  grow.  From  this  obfervation 
I  deduce  another  confequence,  namely  this,  That  the  Au- 
thor of  Nature  evidently  intended  to  link  Mankind  to- 
gether, by  a  reciprocal  communication  of  benefits,  the 
chain  of  which  is,  as  yet,  very  far  from  being  completed. 
Where  is,  for  example,  the  benefaftor  of  Humanity,  who 
fliall  tranfport  to  the  Oftiacs  and  the  Samoiedes  ot  Wai- 
gat's  Strait,  Winter's  tree  from  the  Straits  of  Magellan, 
the  bark  of  which  unites  the  favour  of  cloves,  of  pepper 
and  of  cinnamon  ?  And,  Who  is  the  man  that  fhall  convey 
to  Magellan's  Strait  the  peafe  tree  of  Siberia,  to  feed  the 
ftarving  Patagonian  ? 

What  a  rich  colleftion  might  Ruffia  make,  not  only  of 
the  trees  which  thrive  in  the  northern  and  the  fouthern 
regions  of  America,  but  of  thofe  which,  in  all  parts  of 
the  World,  crown  the  lofty,  ice  covered  mountains,  whofe 
elevated  ridges  have  a  temperature  approaching  to  that  of 
her  plains  ?  Wherefore  behoFds  fhe  not  her  forefts  enrich- 
ed with  the  pines  of  Virginia,  and  with  the  cedars  of 
Mount  Lebanon  ?  The  defert  (hores  of  the  Irtis  might  ev- 
ery year  clothe  themfelves  with  the  fame  fpecies  of  oats 
wherewith  fo  marly  Nations,  inhabiting  the  banks  of  the 
rivers  'of  Canada  are  principally  fupported.  Not  only 
might  (he  colleft  in  her  plains  the  trees  and  the  plants  of 
cold  Latitudes,  but  a  great  number  of  annual  vegetables, 
which  grow  during  the  courfe  of  a  Summer,  in  warm  and 
temperate  Latitudes.  I  know,  by  experience,  that  the 
Summer's  heat  is  as  powerful  at  Peter fburg  as  under  the 
Line. 

There  are,  befides,  parts  of  the  ground,  in  the  North, 
which  have  configurations  perfeftly  adapted  to  afford  a 
fhelter  againfl  the  northerly  winds,  and  to  multiply  the 
warmth  of  the  Sun.  If  the  South  has  its  icy  mountains, 
^he  North  has  its  reverbatory  valleys,  I  have  feeja  one 
VOL.  II.  r  f 


234  A  VINDICATION  oif 

of  thofe  fmall  valleys,  near  Peterfburg,  at  the  bottom  of 
which  flows  a  brook  that  never  freezes,  even  in  the  midft 
of  Winter.  The  rocks  of  granite,  wherewith  Finland  is 
roughened  all  over,  and  which,  according  to  the  report  of 
Travellers,  cover  moft  of  the  lands  of  Sweden,  of  the 
fhores  of  the  Frozen  Ocean,  and  all  Spitzbergen,  are  fuf- 
ficient  for  producing  the  fame  temperatures,  in  many  pla- 
tes, and  for  diminifhing  in  them,  to  a  confiderable  degree, 
the  feverity  of  the  cold. 

I  have  feen,  in  Finland,  near  Wiburg,  beyond  the  fix- 
ty  firft  degree  of  Latitude,  cherry  trees  entirely  expofed 
to  the  weather,  though  thefe  trees  are  natives  of  the  forty 
fecond  degree  ;  that  is,  of  the  kingdom  of  Pontus,  from 
whence  Lucidlus  tranfplanted  them  to  Rome,  after  the 
defeat  of  Mithri dates.  The  peafantry  of  that  Province 
cultivate  tobacco  with  fuccefs,  which  is  a  much  more 
foutherly  plant,  being  originally  a  native  of  Brafil.  It  is, 
I  admit,  an  annual  plant,  and  that  it  does  not  acquire,  in 
its  northern  fituation,  a  very  high  degree  of  perfume;  for 
they  are  under  the  ncceflity  of  expofing  it  to  the  heat  of 
their  ftoves,  in  order  to  bring  it  to  a  ftate  of  perfeft  matu- 
tity.  But  the  rocks,  with  which  Finland  is  covered  over, 
would  undoubtedly  prefent,  to  attentive  eyes,  reverberat- 
ing fituations,  which  might  bring  it  to  a  fufhcient  degree 
of  maturity,  without  the  aid  of  artificial  heat. 

I  myfclf  found,  not  far  from  the  city  of  Frederlckfham,. 
!ipon  a  dunghill,  under  the  fhelter  of  a  rock,  a  very  lofty 
tuft  of  oats,  the  produce  of  a  fingle  feed,  confi fling  of 
fhirtyfeven  flalks,  loaded  with  as  many  ears  completely- 
ripe,  without  reckoning  a  multitude  of  other  fmall  fuck- 
lers.  I  gathered  it  with  an  intention  of  having  it  pre- 
fented  to  her  Imperial  majefly,  Catharine  II,  by  my  Gen- 
eral M.  Duhofquet^  under  whofe  orders,  and  in  whofe 
company  I  Was  then  vifiting  the  fortified  places  of  that 
province:  It -was  likcwife  his  intention  ;  but  our  Ruflian 
attendants,  carelefs,  as  all  flaves  arc,  fuffcrcd  it  to  be  loft> 
He  was  exceedingly  vexed  at  this,  as  well  as  I  :  I  cannot 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCK.  235 

help  thinking,  that  a  flieaf  of  corn  fo  rich  and  beautiful, 
the  produce  of  a  province,  confidered,  ev^en  at  Peterfburg, 
as  fmitten  with  fterility,  becaufe  of  the  rocks  which  cov- 
er its  furface,  and  procured  for  it,  from  ancient  Geog- 
raphers, the  epithet  of  iapidoja,  (ftony)  would  have  been 
as  acceptable  to  her  Majefty,  as  the  huge  block  of  granite 
which  (he  has  fince  had  conveyed  from  thence,  to  be  form- 
ed, at  Peterfburg,  into  the  bafis  of  a  ftatue  of  F^Ur  the 
Great. 

I  have  feen  in  Poland,  feveral  private  individuals  cul- 
tivate the  vine  and  the  apricot  tree  with  very  great  fuc- 
cefs,  Mr.  de  la  Roche,  Conful  from  the  prince  oi  Mol- 
davia, carried  me,  when  at  Warfaw,  to  a  little  garden,  in 
the  fuburbs  of  that  City,  which  produced  to  the  occupier 
an  annual  revenue  of  one  hundred  piftoles,  though  it  did 
not  contain  quite  thirty  of  the  laft  mentioned  tree.  It 
was  totally  unknown  in  that  country  a  hundred  and  fifty 
years  ago.  The  apricot  was  firft  introduced  into  it  by 
a  Frenchman,  valet  de  chambre  to  a  Queen  of  Poland. 
This  man  raifed  the  fruit  fecretly,  and  made  prefents  of 
It  to  the  Grandees  of  the  Country,  pretending  that  he  had 
received  it  from  France,  by  the  couriers  of  the  Court. 
The  great  people  did  not  fail  to  pay  him  magnificently  for 
his  prefents  ;  and  this  fpecies  of  commerce  became  to 
him  the  foundation  of  an  ample  fortune,  by  means  of 
which  his  great  grand  children  are  at  this  day  the  moft 
opulent  Bankers  ot  that  Country. 

What  I  have  faid  refpefting  the  pofTibility  of  enrich- 
ing Ruffia  and  Poland  with  ufeful  vegetables,  is  not  only 
in  the  view  of  acknowledging,  the  beft  way  in  my  power, 
the  gracious  reception  with  which  I  was  honoured  by  per- 
fons  of  rank,  and  by  the  Government  of  thofe  Countries 
when  I  was  a  ftranger  among  them ;  but  becaufe  thefc 
indications  tend  equally  to  the  improvement  of  France, 
the  Climate  of  which  is  more  temperate.  We  have  icy 
mountains,  capable  of  producing  all  the  vegetables  of  the 
JiJorth ;  and  reverberating  valleys  equally  adapted  tp  x\^ 


236  A  VINDICATION  or 

produ61ion  of  moft  of  thofe  of  the  South.  It  would  not 
be  proper,  as  our  cuftom  is,  to  make  an  effort  to  render 
this  fpecies  of  cuhure  general  through  a  whole  diflri£t, 
but  to  fet  it  a  going  in  fome  little  fheltered  expofure,  or. 
fmall  winding  valley.  The  influence  of  thefe  pofitions  is 
of  no  great  extent.  Thus,  the  famous  Conftantia  vine 
of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  fucceeds  perfeftly  only  on  a 
fmall  fpot  of  ground,  fituated  at  the  bottom  of  a  little 
hill,  whereas  the  adjoining  and  furrounding  vineyards  da 
not  produce  the  mufcadine  grape  of  any  thing  like  the 
fame  quality.  Of  this,  too,  I  have  my  own  perfonal  ex~ 
perience. 

In  France,  it  would  be  proper  to  look  for  fheltered  af- 
pefts,  fuch  as  we  have  been  defcribing,  in  places  where 
there  are  white  Hones  in  abundance,  the  colour  of  which 
is  the  befl  adapted  to  reverberate  the  rays  of  the  Sun, 
Nay,  I  believe,  that  marl  is  indebted  to  its  white  colour, 
for  part  of  the  heat  which  it  communicates  to  the  lands 
on  which  it  is  fpread ;  for  it  reflefts  upon  them  the  rays 
of  the  Sun  with  fo  much  aftivity,  as  to  burn  up  the  firfl 
fhoots  of  many  herbs.  This  is  the  reafon,  if  I  am  not 
miftaken,  why  marl,  which  has,  in  other  refpefts,  the 
the  principles  of  fecundation  within  itfelf,  kills  a  great 
many  of  the  fmaller  herbs,  which  are  accuftomed  to  grow 
under  the  fhade  of  the  corn,  and  whofe  firff  leaves  are 
more  tender  than  thofe  of  corn,  which  is,  in  general,  the 
moft  hardy  of  gramineous  plants. 

It  would  be  farther  neceffary  to  look  for  thofe  fortu- 
nate cxpofures  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Sea,  and  under  the 
influence  of  its  winds,  which  are  fo  neceffary  to  the  vege- 
tation of  many  plants,  that  feveral  of  them  refufe  to  grow 
in  the  inland  parts  of  a  country.  Such  is,  among  others, 
the  olive  tree,  which  it  has  been  found  impoffible  to  prop- 
agate in  the  interior  of  Afia  and  of  America,  though  the 
Latitude  be,  in  other  refpefts,  favourable.  Nay,  I  have 
remarked,  that  it  is  not  fruitful  in  iflands,  and  on  fhores 
>vhere  it  is  excluded  from  the  fca  breezes.     To  this  caufc 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  237 

I  afcribe  the  fterility  of  thofe  which  have  been  planted 
in  the  Ifle  of  France,  on  its  weftern  fhore ;  for  it  is  fhel^ 
tered  from  the  Eaft  winds  by  a  chain  of  mountains.  As 
to  the  cocoa  tree,  it  will  not  thrive,  between  the  Tropics, 
imlefs  it  has,  if  I  may  venture  to  fay  fo,  its  root  in  the 
fea  water.  It  is,  I  firmly  believe,  for  want  of  thofe  ge- 
ographical confiderations,  and  fome  others  of  a  fimilar 
nature,  that  many  plans  of  improvement  in  cultivation 
have  failed  in  France,  and  in  her  Colonies. 

However  that  may  be,  it  might  be  poffible  to  find, 
within  the  kingdom,  an  icy  mountain,  with,  perhaps,  a 
reverberating  valley  below.  It  would  be  a  moft  agreea- 
ble employment  to  go  in  fearch  of  fuch  a  fituation,  and 
the  greateft  benefits  might  be  derived  from  it.  We  might 
convert  it  into  a  Royal  Garden,  which  fliould  prefent  to 
our  Sovereign  a  fpeftacle  of  the  vegetation  of  a  multitude 
of  climates,  upon  one  line,  of  lefs  than  fifteen  hundred 
fathoms  of  elevation.  There  he  might  bid  defiance  to 
the  burning  heat  of  the  dog  ftar,  under  the  fhade  of  ce- 
dars, on  the  moffy  bank  of  a  rivulet  iffuing  from  the 
fnow  ;  and,  perhaps,  efcape  the  feverity  of  Winter's  cold, 
at  the  bottom  of  a  valley  with  a  fouthern  afpeft,  under 
the  palm  tree,  and  amidfl  a  field  of  fugar  canes.  Wc 
might  there  naturalize  the  animals  which  are  the  comDat- 
fiots  of  thofe  vegetables.  He  might  hear  the  brayin?  of 
the  rein  deer  of  Lapland,  from  the  fame  valley  in  which 
he  would  fee  the  peacocks  of  Java  building  their  nefls. 
This  landfcape  would  coUeft  around  him  a  part  of  the 
tributes  of  the' Creation,  and  exhibit  to  him  an  imanre  of 
the  terreflrial  paradife,  which  was  fituated,  as  I  fuppofo, 
in  a  fimilar  pofition.  In  ferious  truth,  1  cannot  lielp  ex- 
prefTing  a  wifh,  that  our  Kings  would  extend  their  fiib- 
lime  enjoyments,  as  far  as  the  fludy  of  Nature  has  purfu- 
ed  its  refcarches  under  their  flouriOiing  Empire-. 

.    *   ^eJuamev5hominum.JatiforXlfquefuturoc\  Ah,  blind   to  futurity  !  Little 
4id  good  Saint  Pierre  think,  t^.at  the  ill  fated  Prince,  for  vvh-o.m  he  took  fo 


^38  A  VINDICATION  of 

It  now  remains,  that  I  examine  the  harmonies  whick 
plants  form  with  each  other.  Thefe  harmonies  confli- 
tute  the  inexprefhble  charms  laviflied  on  the  fites  which 
Nature  has  fowed  and  planted  with  her  own  hand ;  and 
they  are  to  be  the  fubjcft  of  the  enfuing  feftion. 


VEGETABLE  HARMONIES  OF  PLANTS. 


We  aie  going  to  apply  to  plants  the  general  principles 
laid  down  in  the  preceding  Study,  by  examining,  one  af- 
ter another,  the  harmonies  of  their  colours,  and  of  thek 
forms. 

The  verdure  of  plants,  which  is  fo  grateful  to  the  eye, 
is  a  harmony  of  two  colours  oppofite  in  their  elementary 
generation,  of  yellow,  which  is  the  colour  of  the  Earth, 
and  of  blue,  which  is  the  colour  of  the  Heavens.  Had 
Naiure  d)'ed  plants  yellow,  they  would  have  been  con- 
founded vvdth  the  ground  ;  if  blue,  they  would  have  been 
confounded  with  the  Heavens  and  the  Waters.  In  the 
fir  ft  cafe,  all  would  have  appeared  earth  ;  in  the  fecond, 
all  would  have  appeared  fea  :  But  their  verdure  gives 
them  contrafts  the  moft  delightful  with  the  grounds  <^ 
this  magnificent  pifture,  and  confonances  equally  agreea- 
ble with  the  yellow  colour  of  the  earth,  and  with  the  az- 
ure of  the  Heavens. 

The  green  colour  pofTefTes  this  farther  advantage,  that 
it  accords  in  a  moft  wonderful  manner  with  all  the  oth- 
ers, which   arifcs  from  its  being  the   harmony    of  the  two 

much  delight  to  plant  and  decorate  this  earthly  Paradifc,  was,  in  the  courfe 
of  a  few  fleeting  years,  to  be  dethroned,  imprifoned,  condemned,  and  pub- 
licly fxccijiccl,  in  the  Metropolis  of  his  own  Kingdom  ;  and  the  very  name 
of  King  profcribcd  by  a  Nation  once  enthufiaftically  attached  to  Royalty. 
How  wonderful  arc  the  Works  of  Nature  !  Kow  myfterious  the  Ways  of 
I'rovidcncc  I  H.    H. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  13^ 

extreme  colours.  Painters,  who  are  endowed  with  tafte, 
hang  the  walls  of  their  exhibition  rooms  with  green,  in 
order  that  the  piaures,  of  whatever  colours  they  may  be, 
may  detach  themfelves  from  that  ground  without  harflinefs, 
and  harmonize  upon  it  without  confufion.* 

Nature,  not  fatisfied  with  thi«  firft  general  tint,  has  em- 
ployed, in  extending  it  over  the  ground  of  her  fcene,  what 
Painters  call  tranfitions.  She  has  appropriated  a  partic- 
ular fhade  of  bluifh  green,  which  we  call  fea  green,  to 
plants  which  grow  in  the  vicinity  of  water,  and  of  the 
Heavens.  This  is  the  fhade  which,  in  general,  tinges 
the  plants  of  the  fliores,  as  reeds,  willows,  poplars ;  and 
thofe  of  high  grounds,  as  the  thiftle,  the  cyprefs,  and  the 
pine  ;  and  which  makes  the  azure  of  the  rivers  to  har- 
monize with  the  verdure  of  the  meadows,  and  the  azure 
of  the  Heavens  with  the  verdure  of  the  heights.  Thus, 
by  means  of  this  light  and  fugitive  tint,  Nature  diffufes 
delicious  harmonies  over  the  limits  of  the  waters,  and  a- 
long  the  profiles  of  landfcapes  ;  and  it  is  produaive  of  a 
ftill  farther  magic  to  the  eye,  in  that  it  gives  greater  ap- 
parent depth  to  the  valleys,  and  more  elevation  to  the 
mountains. 

Something  more  wonderful  flill  challenges  our  atten- 
tion, namely  this,  that  though  fhe  employs  but  one  fmgic 
colour  in  arraying  fo  many  plants,  fhe  extraas  out  of  it  a 
quantity  of  tints  fo  prodigious,  that  each  of  thofe  plants 
has  its  own,  peculiar  to  itfelf,  and  which  detaches  it  fuf- 
ficiently  from  its  neighbour  to  be  diftinguifhable  from  it ; 
and  each  of  thefe  tints  is  varying,  from  day  to  day,  from 
the  commencement  of  Spring,  when  mofl  of  them  exhibit 

*  Undoubtedly,  when  they  put  on  a  green  ground,  pidlures  of  plants, 
or  landfcapes,  iuch  piftures  detach  themfelves  from  it  but  indifferently. 
There  is,  in  my  opinion,  a  tint  better  adapted  to  be  the  ground  of  a  pic- 
ture gallery  ;  namely,  gray.  This  tint,  fortecd  of  black  and  white,  which 
are  the  extremes  of  the  chain  of  colours,  harmonizes  with  every  other,  with- 
out exception.  Nature  frequently  employs  it  in  the  Heavens,  and  oo  the 
Horizon,  by  means  of  vapours  and  ®f  clouds,  which  are  generally  of  that 
colour. 


^^Q  A  VINDICATION  oF 

themfclves  In  a  bloody  verdure  up  to  the  lafl  days  of  AuJ 
tumn,  when  they  are  transformed  into  various  yellows. 

Nature,  after  having  thus  harmonized  the  ground   of 
her  pifture,   by  means  of  a  general  colour,  has  detached 
from  it  every  vegetable  in  particular,  by  means  of  con- 
trafts.     Such  as  are  defigned  to  grow  immediately  on  the 
^rround,  on  flrands,  or  on  dufky  rocks,  are  entirely  green, 
leaves  and  flems,  as  the  greateft  part  of  reeds,  of  graffes, 
of  mofles,  of  tapers  and  of  aloes  ;  but  thofe  which  are 
deftined  to  arife  out  of  the  midft  of  herbage,  have  ftems 
of  different  tints  wf  brown  ;  fuch  are  the  trunks  of  mod 
trees,  and  the  ftalks  of  fhrubs.     The  alder,  for  example, 
which  thrives  amidft  the  graffy  turf,  has  ftems  of  an  alh- 
coloured  gray  ;  but  the  wallwort,  which  entirely  refem- 
blcs  it  in  all  other  refpefts,  and  which  grows  immediately 
on  the  ground,  is  green  all  over.     The  mugwort,  which 
grows  along  hedges,  has  reddifh  ftems,  by  which  it  is  ea- 
fiiy  diftinguiftiable  from  the  neighbouring  fhrubs.     Nay„ 
there  are,  in  every  genus  of  plants,  certain  fpecies  which, 
by  their  (hining  colours,  feem  to  have  been  formed  for 
terminating  the  limits   of  their  clafTes.     Such  is,   in  the 
forb  genus,  a  fpecies  called  the  Canadian  fervice  tree,  the 
tranches  of  which  are  of  a  coral  red.     There  are,  in  the 
willow  tribe,  ofiers  whofe  felons  are  as  yellow  as  gold  ; 
but  there  is  not  a  hngle  plant  which  does  not  detach  it- 
felf  entirely  from  the  ground  which   furrounds  it  by  its 
flowers  and  by  its  fruits. 

It  is  impoffible  to  fuppofe  that  fo  many  varieties  ffiould 
be  mechanical  refults  of  the  colour  next  to  which  bodies 
are  placed  ;  for  example,  that  the  blulfti  green  of  moft 
mountain  vegetables  fhould  be  an  effeft  of  the  azure  of 
the  Heavens.  It  is  worthy  of  being  remarked,  that  the 
blue  colour  is  not  to  be  found,  at  leaft  as  far  as  I  know, 
in  the  flowers  or  in  the  fruits  of  lofty  trees ;  for  in  this  cafe, 
they  would  be  confounded  with  the  Heavens  ;  but  it  rs 
very  common  on  the  ground,  in  the  flowers  of  herbs,  fuch 
as  the  blue  bottle,  the  fcablous,  the  violet,  the  liverwort. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  241 

the  iris,  and  many  others.  On  the  contrary,  the  colour  of 
the  earth  is  very  common  in  the  fruits  of  lofty  trees,  fuch 
as  the  cheftnut,  the  walnut,  the  cocoa  nut,  and  the  cone 
of  the  pine.  Hence  we  have  an  intimation,  that  the  point 
«f  view  of  this  magnificent  pifture  was  taken  from  the 
eye  of  Man. 

Nature,  after  having  diftinguifhed  the  harmonic  colour 
of  each  vegetable,  by  the  contrafting  colour  of  its   flow- 
ers, and  of  its   fruits,  has  followed  the  fame  laws  in  the 
forms  which  fhe  has  given  them.     The  moft  beautiful   of 
jForms,  as  we  have  feen,  is  the  fpherical  form  ;  and  the  moft 
agreeable  contraft  which  it  is  capable  of  forming,  is  when 
found  in  oppofition  to  the  radiating  form.     You  will  fre- 
quently find  this  form  and  its  contraft  in  the  aggregation 
of  the  flowers  that  go  by  the  name  of  radiated,  as  the  daify, 
which  has  a  circle  of  fmall,  white,  divergent  petals,  fur- 
rounding  its  yellow  diflc  :  We  find  it  likewife,  with  other 
combinations,  in  the  blue  bottle,  in  the  afters  and  a  mul- 
titude of  other  fpecies.     When  the  radiating  parts  of  the 
flower  are  outerraoft,  the  fpherical  parts  are  inmoft,  as  in 
the  fpecies  which  I  have  juft  named  ;  but   when  the  firft 
are  inmoft,   the  fpherical  parts  are  outmoft  :  This  may  be 
remarked  in  thofe  whofe  ftamina  are  drawn  out  into  length, 
and  the  petals  in  fpherical  portions,  fuch  as  the  flowers  of 
the  hawthorn   and  of  the  apple  tree,  and  moft  part  of  the 
rofaceous  and  liliaceous  plants.     Sometimes  the  contraft 
of  the  flower  is  with  the  furrounding  parts  of  the  plant. 
The  rofe  is   one  of  thofe  in  which  it  is  moft  ftrongly 
marked  :  Its  diflc  is  formed  of  beautiful   fpherical   por- 
tions, its  calix  is  briftled  with  beards,  and  its  ftalk  with 
thorns. 

W^hen  the  fpherical  form  is  found  placed,  in  a  flower, 
between  the  radiating  and  the  parabolic,  then  there  is  n 
complete  elementary  generation,  the  effeft  of  which  is  al- 
ways highly  agreeable  ;  it  is  this,  too,  which  is  produced 
by  moft  of  the  flowers  that  have  juft  been  named,  by  the 
profile  of  their  calices,  which  terminate  their  projeain^- 

VOL.    II.  G   ff 


ii42  A  VINDICATION  of 

ftems.  The  nofegay  girls  are  fo  fenfible  of  tlie  value  of 
this  combination,  that  they  fell  a  fimple  rofeonits  branch 
at  a  much  higher  price  than  they  would  afk  for  a  large 
pofy  of  the  fame  flowers,  efpecially  if  there  are  on  it  a 
few  buds,  which  prefent  the  charming  progrelTions  of  the 
florification.  But  Nature  is  fo  vaft,  and  my  incapacity  fo 
great,  that  I  muft  reftri6l  myfelf  to  throwing  a  fimple 
glance  on  the  contrail,  which  arifes  from  the  fimple  op- 
pofition  of  forms :  It  is  fo  univerfal,  that  Nature  has  giv- 
en it  to  plants  which  had  it  not  in  themfelves,  by  oppof- 
ing  them  to  others  which  have  a  configuration  entirely 
different. 

The  fpecics  oppofite  in  forms  are  almofl  always  in  com- 
pany. When  you  fall  in  with  an  old  willow,  on  the  bank 
of  a  river,  which  art  has  not  degraded,  you  may  frequent- 
ly fee  upon  it  a  great  convolvulus  covering  the  radiated 
foliage  of  the  tree  with  its  own  heart  formed  leaves,  and 
its  bell  fhaped  white  flowers,  to  make  up  the  defe£l  of 
apparent  flowers,  which  Nature  has  denied  to  this  tree. 
Different  fpecies  of  ropeweed  produce  the  fame  harmonies 
on  various  fpecies  of  high  gramineous  plants. 

Thefe  plants,  called  creeping,  are  fcattered  over  the 
whole  vegetable  kingdom,  and  are  appropriated,  as  I  fup- 
pofe,  to  each  vertical  fpecies.  They  have  a  great  variety 
of  methods  of  fixing  themfelves  on  the  upright  plant, 
which  would  alone  merit  a  particular  treatife.  There  are 
fome  which  turn  themfelves  fpirally  around  the  trunks  of 
forefl  trees,  fuch  as  the  honeyfuckle  ;  others,  as  peafe, 
have  hands  with  three  to  five  fingers,  by  which  they  lay 
hold  of  Ihrubbery  :  It  is  very  remarkable,  that  thofe 
hands  do  not  make  their  appearance  till  they  have  acquir- 
ed a  height  at  which  they  begin  to  have  occafion  for  them 
as  a  fupport  ;  others,  as  the  baftard  pomegranate,  attach 
themfelves  in  form  of  cork  fcrew  ;  others  form  a  fimple 
hook  with  the  tail  of  their  leaf,  as  the  naflurtium  :  The 
pink  employs  a  fimilar  method  of  adhefion.  Thefe  two 
beautiful  flowers  are  fupported  in  our  gardens  with  rods  ; 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  243 

but  it  would  be  a  problem  well  worthy  of  the  inveftigatioii 
of  Florifts,  to  afcertain  what  are  the  auxiliary  plants,  ii  I 
may  call  them  fo,  to  which  thefe  were  defigned  to  unite 
themfelves,  in  the  places  where  they  are  native  :  Delight- 
ful groups  might  be  formed  by  their  reunion. 

I  am  perfuaded  that  there  is   not  a  vegetable  but  what 
has  its  oppofite  in  fome  parts  of  the  Earth  :  Their  mutu- 
al harmony   is   the  caufe  of  the  fecret  pleafure  which  we 
feel  in  wild  rural  fcenes,  where   Nature  is  at  liberty  to 
combine  them.     The  fir  tree  rifes,  in  the  forefts  of  the 
North,  like  a  lofty  pyramid,  of  a  dark  green,  and  with  a 
mo'tionlefs  attitude.     The  birch  is  almoft  always  found  in 
jits  vicinity,  and  grows  to  nearly  the  fame  height,  is  of  the 
form  of  an  inverted  pyramid,  of  a  lively  verdure,  with  a 
moveable  foliage,  continually  playing  about  with  every 
breath  of  the  wind.  The  round  leafed  trefoil  loves  to  grow 
in  the  midft  of  the  fine  grafs,  and  to  adorn  it  with  its  own 
flowery  nofegay.     Nay,  I   believe  that   Nature  has  made 
thofe  deep  incifions  in  the  leaves  of  a  great  many  vegeta- 
bles, entirely  in  the  view  of  facilitating   alliances  of  this 
fort,  and  of  opening  a  paffage  for  the  graffes,  the  verdure 
and  delicacy  of  whofe  Items  form  with  them  an  infinity  of 
contrails.     Of  this  inftances  innumerable  may  be   feen  in 
uncultivated  fields,  where  tufts  of  grafs  pierce  through  the 
broad  plants  of  the  thiftle  and  the  echium.     This  arrange- 
ment has,   likewife,  been  made,   in  order  that  the  gralTes, 
which  are  moft  ufeful  of  all  vegetables,  might  receive   a 
portion  of  the  rain  from  Heaven,  through  the  interftices 
of  the  broad  foliage  of  thofe  privileged  children  of  Na- 
ture, which  would  ftifle  every  thing  around  them,  but  for 
thofe   profound   incifions.     Nature   does  nothing  merely 
for   the  pleafure  of  doing  it,  but  always  conneBs   with  it 
fome  reafon  of  utiUty  :  This  appears  to  me  the  fo  much 
more  decidedly  marked,  that  the   incifions  in  leaves  are 
much  more  common,  and  deeper  in  the  plants  and  undei 
fhrubberv,  which  rife  to  no  great  height,  than  in  tree-^. 


S44  A  VINDICATION  op 

The  harmonics  refulting  from  contraft,  are  to  be  foiini 
even  in  the  waters.  The  reed,  on  the  brink  of  rivers, 
raifes  into  the  air  its  radiating  leaves,  and  its  embrowned 
diftafF,  whereas  the  nympha[^a  extends  at  its  feet  a  broad 
heart  formed  foliage,  and  rofes  of  yellow  gold  :  The  one 
prefents,  on  the  waters,  a  continued  pallifadc,  and  the  oth- 
er a  platform  of  verdure. 

Similar  oppofitions  prefent  themfelves  in  the  moft 
frigktful  of  climates.  Martens^  of  Hamburg,  who  has 
given  us  a  very  good  account  of  Spitzbergen,  tells  us,  that 
when  the  feamen  belonging  to  the  veffel  in  which  he  nav- 
igated along  its  coafls,  heaved  up  the  anchor,  they  feldom 
failed  to  bring  up  with  it  a  very  broad  leaf  of  the  alga  ma- 
rina,  fix  feet  in  length,  and  attached  to  a  tail  as  long  : 
This  leaf  was  fmooth,  of  a  brown  colour,  fpotted  with 
black,  ftriped  with  two  white  flripes,  and  made  in  form  of 
a  tongue  :  He  calls  it  the  plant  of  the  rock.  But  what 
is  very  fingular,  it  was  ufually  accompanied  by  a  hairy 
plant,  about  fix  feet  in  length,  like  a  horfe's  tail,  and  form- 
ed of  liairs  fo  fine,  that  one  might  denominate  it,  fays  he, 
the  filk  of  the  rock.  He  found  on  thofe  difmal  fiiores, 
where  the  empire  of  Flora  is  in  fuch  a  ftate  of  defolation, 
the  cochUaria  (fcurvy  grafs)  and  the  forrel,  which  grew 
together.  The  leaf  of  the  firft  is  rounded  in  form  of  a 
fpoon,  that  of  the  other  is  lengthened  into  the  fhape  of  the 
iron  head  of  an  arrow.  A  Phyfician  of  confiderable  abil- 
ity, of  the  name  of  Bartholin^*  has  obferved,  that  the  vir- 
tues of  their  falts  are  as  oppofitc  as  their  configurations  ; 
thofe  of  the  firft  are  alkalies,  thofe  of  the  other  are  acids  ; 
and  from  their  union  refults  what  medical  men  call  a  neu- 
tral fait,  which  they  ought  rather  to  call  a  harmonic  fait, 
the  moft  powerful  remedy  which  can  be  employed  as  an 
antifcorbutic,  and  the  fcurvy  is  a  difeafe  which  is  readily, 
and  lifually  caught  in  thofe  dreadful  climates. 

♦  Stc  Chmei'i  Hiftory  of  Common  Plants, 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  245 

For  my  own  part,  I  apprehend  that  the  qualities  of 
plants  are  harmonic  as  their  forms  ;  and  that  as  often  as 
we  find  them  grouped  agreeably  and  conftantly,  there  muft 
refult  from  the  union  of  their  qualities,  for  nourifhment, 
fdr  health,  or  for  pleafure,  a  harmony  as  agreeable  as  that 
which  arifes  from  the  contrail  of  their  figures.  This  is 
a  prefumption  that  1  could  fupport,  by  referring  to  the  in- 
ftinft  of  animals,  which,  in  browfing  on  the  herbage,  vary 
the  choice  of  their  aliments  ;  but  this  confideration  would 
lead  me  away  from  my  fubjeft. 

1  Ihould  never  come  to  a  conclufion,  were  I  to  go  into 
a  detail  refpefting  the  harmonies  of  fo  many  plants  which 
we  undervalue,  becaufe  they  are  feeble  or  common.  If 
we  fuppofe  them,  for  thought's  fake,  of  the  fize  of  our 
trees,  the  majefty  of  the  palm  tree  would  difappear  before 
the  .magnificence  of  their  attitudes  and  of  their  propor- 
tions. Some  of  them,  fuch  as  the  echium,  rife  like  fuperb 
candlefticks,  forming  a  vacuum  round  their  centre,  and 
rearing  toward  Heaven  their  prickly  arms,  loaded,  their 
whole  length  through,  with  lamps  of  violet  coloured 
flowers.  The  verbafcum,  on  the  contrary,  extends  around 
it,  its  broad  leaves  of  folemn  drapery,  and  fends  up  from 
its  centre  along  diflafF  of  yellow  flowers,  as  falutary  to  the 
ftomach,  as  grateful  to  the  touch.  The  violet,  of  deep 
blue,  contrafts,  in  the  Spring,  with  the  primrofc,  expand- 
ing its  golden  cup  with  a  fcarlet  brim.  On  the  embrown- 
ed angles  of  the  rock,  under  the  fliade  of  ancient  beech 
trees,  the  mulhroom,  white  and  round  as  an  ivory  piece 
for  the  chefs  board,  arifes  out  of  a  bed  of  mofs  of  the  moft 
beautiful  green. 

Muftirooms  alone  prefent  a  multitude  of  unknown  con- 
fonances  and  contrafts.  This  clafs  is,  firft,  the  moft  vari- 
ed of  all  thofe  of  the  vegetables  of  our  climates.  Sebaf. 
tian  le  Vaillant  enumerates  one  hundred  and  four  fpecies 
of  them  in  the  vicinity  of  Paris,  without  taking  into  the 
account  the  fungoids,  which  furnlfh,  at  leaft,  a  dozen 
more.     Nature  has  difperfed  them  over  moft  ftiady  places, 


246  A  VINDICATION. or 

where  they  frequently  form  contrafts  the  moll  extraordi- 
nary. There  are  fome  which  thrive  only  on  the  naked 
rock,  where  they  prefent  a  foreft  of  fmall  filaments,  each 
of  which  iupports  its  particular  chapiter.  There  are  fome 
which  grow  on  fubftances  the  moft  abjeft,  with  forms  the 
moft  folemn  ;  fuch  i§  that  whicli  thrives  on  what  falls 
from  the  horfe,  and  ^v•hich  refcm.blcs  a  Roman  hat,  whence 
it  has  borrowed  its  name.  Others  prefent  agreeable  con- 
fonances  :  Such  is  that  which  grows  at  the  foot  of  the  ai- 
der, under  the  form  of  a  cockle.  V/hat  nymph  has  plant- 
ed a  fliell  by  the  root  of  a  tree  of  the  rivers  ? 

This  numerous  tribe  appears  to  have  its  deftiny  attach- 
ed to  that  of  the  trees,  which  have  each  a  mufliroom  ap- 
propriated to  itfcif,  and  rarely  to  be  found  elfewhere  ; 
Such  are  thofe  v/hich  grow  only  on  the  roots  of  plumb 
trees  and  pines.  To  no  purpofe  does  Heaven  pour  down 
its  Copious  rains  ;  the  mufliroom,  under  covert  of  it«  um- 
brella, receives  not  a  fingle  drop.  They  derive  the  whole 
fupport  ot  life  from  the  Earth,  and  from  the  potent  vege- 
table to  whofe  fortune  they  have  united  their  own  :  Like 
thofe  little  Savoyards,  who  are  planted  as  polls  at  the 
gates  of  the  hotels  of  the  Great,  they  extratl  their  fubfill- 
ence  out  of  the  fuperfluity  of  another ;  they  grow  under 
ihe  fliade  of  the  Powers  of  the  forefl,  and  live  on  the  fu- 
perabundance  of  their  fumptuous  banquets. 

Other  vegetables  prefent  oppofitions  of  llrength  to 
weaknefs  in  a  different  way,  and  confonances  of  protec- 
tion ftill  more  dilHnguifhed.  Thofe  which  we  have  been 
mentioning,  like  lordly  Chieftains,  leave  their  humble 
friends  at  their  feet  :  The  others  carry  them  in  their  arms, 
and  place  them  upon  their  heads.  They  frequently  re- 
ceive the  recompenfe  of  their  noble  hofpitality.  The  li- 
annes  which,  in  the  Antilles  Iflands,  attach  themfelves  to 
:he  trees  of  the  forefl,  defend  them  from  the  fury  of  the 
hurricane.  The  Gallic  Oak  has  oftener  than  once  feen 
itfelf  an  ohjeft  of  veneration  to  the  Nations,  from  having 
carried  the  miflletoc  in  its  branches..     The  iw,  a  friend  to 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  S4; 

monuments  and  tombs  ;  the  ivy,  with  which,  in  ancient 
times,  they  crowned  the  Poets  who  conferred  immortality, 
fometimes  covers  with  its  foliage  the  trunks  of  the  ftate- 
lieft  trees.  It  is  one,  among  many,  of  the  irrefiflible  proofs 
of  the  vegetable  compenfations  of  Nature  ;  for  I  do  not 
recolleft  that  I  ever  faw  the  ivy  on  the  trunks  of  pines,  of 
firs,  or  of  other  trees  whofe  foliage  lafts  all  the  year  round. 
It  invefts  thofe  only  which  are  ftripped  by  the  hand  of 
Vl^inter.  Symbol  of  a  generous  friendfhip,  it  attaches  it- 
felf  only  to  the  wretched ;  and  when  death  itfelt  has  fmit- 
ten  its  proteftor,  it  rellores  him  again  the  honours  of  the 
foreil  where  he  lives  no  longer  ;  it  makes  him  revive,  by 
decorating  his  ftiade  with  garlands  of  flowers,  and  feftoons 
of  undecaying  verdure. 

Thegreatefl  part  of  plants  which  grow  under  the  fhade, 
are  adorned  with  the  moft  vivid  colours  ;  thus  the  mofTes 
difplay  the  brilliancy  of  their  -emerald  green  on  the  duflcy 
fides  of  the  rocks.  In  the  forefts,  the  mufliroom  and  the 
agaricum  diftinguifh  themfelves  by  their  colours  from  the 
roots  of  the  trees  under  which  they  grow.  The  ivy  de- 
taches itfelf  from  their  gray  barks  by  its  fhining  green  ; 
the  miftletoe  difclofes  its  branches  of  a  yellowilh  green, 
and  its  fruits  fimilar  to  pearls,  amidft  the  thick  foliage  of 
the  oak.  The  aquatic  convolvulus  dazzles  you  with  its 
large  white  bell  fhaped  flowers  on  the  trunk  of  the  willow. 
The  virgins'  bower  clothes  with  verdure  the  ancient  tow- 
ers, and,  in  Autumn,  her  foliage  of  gold  and  purple,  feems 
to  fix,  on  their  fober  eminences,  the  rich  colours  of  the 
fetting  Sun.  Other  plants,  entirely  concealed  from  the 
eye,  difcover  themfelves  by  their  perfumes.  It  is  thus 
that  the  obfcure  violet  invites  the  hand  of  lovers  to  the 
bofom  of  the  prickly  (hrub.  And  thus  is  verified,  on  ev- 
ery hand,  that  great  Law  of  contrails,  which  governs 
the  World  :  No  aggregation  is,  in  plants,  the  efFe6l  of 
chance. 

Nature   has   eftabliflied,   in  the  numerous  tribes  of  the 
vegetable  kingdom,  a  multitude  of  alliances,   the  end  of 


■48  A  ViKDICATlOxN  op 

which  is  unknown  to  us.  There  are  plants,  for  example;, 
the  fexes  of  which  are  on  different  individuals,  as  in  the 
animal  Creation.  There  are  others  whom  you  always 
find  united  in  feveral  clufters,  as  if  they  loved  to  live  in 
fociety ;  others,  on  the  contrary,  you  almoft  always  meet 
with  in  a  flate  of  folitude.  I  prefume,  that  ^lany  of  thefe 
relations  are  connefted  with  the  charafter  of  the  birds 
which  live  on  their  fruits,  and  which  refow  them.  The 
herbage  in  the  meadows  frequently  reprefent  the  bearing 
of  the  trees  in  the  forefts  ;  there  are  fome  which,  in  their 
foliage  and  proportions,  refemble  the  pine,  the  fir,  and 
the  oak  :  Nay,  1  believe  that  every  tree  has  a  confonance 
in  its  correfponding  herb.  It  is  by  a  magic  of  this  fort, 
that  fmall  fpots  of  ground  prefent  to  us  the  extent  of  a 
large  diflrift.  If  you  are  under  a  grove  of  oaks,  and  per- 
ceive, on  an  adjoining  hillock,  tufts  of  germander,  the  fo- 
liage of  which  refembles  them  in  miniature,  and  you  will 
feel  all  the  effeft  of  a  perfpeftive.  Thefe  diminutions  of 
proportion  extend  from  trees  even  down  to  moffes,  and  are 
the  caufes,  in  part,  of  the  pleafure  which  we  enjoy  in  wild 
rural  fccnes,  where  Nature  has  had  leiJure  to  difpofe  and 
accomplifh  her  plans.  The  effeft  of  thofe  vegetable  illu- 
fions  is  fo  undoubtedly  certain,  that  if  vou  have  the  ground 
cleared,  the  extent  of  any  particular  fpot,  when  ftrip- 
ped  of  its  natural  vegetables,  appears  much  fmaller  than 
before. 

Nature  farther  employs  diminifhing  fhades  of  verdure, 
which,  being  lighter  on  the  fummit  of  trees  than  at  their 
bafe,  gives  them  the  appearance  of  being  more  lofty  than 
they  really  are.  She  appropriates,  befides,  the  pyramidical 
form  to  many  mountain  trees,  in  order  to  increafe  the  ap- 
parent elevation  of  their  fite  ;  this  is  obfervable  in  the 
larch,  the  fir,  thecyprefs,  and  in  many  other  plants,  which 
grow  on  heights.  She  fometimes  unites,  in  the  fame 
place,  the  effects  of  feafons  and  of  climates  the  mod  op- 
pofite.  She  clothes,  in  hot  climates,  the  whole  fides  of 
mountains  with  the  vegetable  called  the  ice  plant,  becaufe 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  ^g 

It  ffeems  entirely  covered  over  with  flakes  of  ice  ;  you 
would  believe  that,  in  the  midft  of  Summer,  Boreas 
had  breathed  upon  it  all  the  chilling  blafts  of  the  North. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  find,  in  Ruffia,  moftes  in  the 
midft  of  Winter  ;  which,  from  the  red  and  fmokv  coiour 
of  their  flowers,  have  the  appearance  of  being  fet  on  fire. 
In  our  rainy  climates,  fhe  crowns  the  fummits  of  hillocks 
with  broom  and  rofemary  ;  and  the  tops  of  ancient  tow- 
ers with  the  yellow  gilliflowcr  :  In  the  midft  of  the 
gloomieft  day,  you  would  imagine  you  faw  the  rays  of  the 
Sun  fhining  upon  them. 

In  another  place,  fhe  produces  the  efFefl  of  the  wind 
in  the  midft  of  perfeft  ftillnefs.  In  many  parts  of  Amer- 
ica, a  bird  has  only  to  alight  on  a  tuft  of  the  fenfitive 
plant,  in  order  to  put  in  motion  the  whole  ftripe,  which 
fometimes  extends  to  three  furlongs.  The  European  trav- 
eller ftands  ftill,  and  obferves,  with  aftonifhment,  the  air 
tranquil,  but  the  herbage  in  motion.  I  myfelf  have  fome- 
times miftaken,  in  our  own  woods,  the  murmur  of  pop- 
lars and  of  afpins,  for  the  bubbling  of  brooks.  Oftener  than 
once,  feated  under  their  fhade,  on  the  fkirt  of  a  meadow, 
whofe  herbage  the  winds  put  into  an  undulatory  motion, 
this  multiplied  tremuloufnefs  has  transfufed  into  my  blood 
the  imaginary  coolnefs  of  the  ftream. 

Nature  frequently  employs  the  aerial  vapours,  in  order 
to  give  a  greater  extent  to  our  landfcapes.  She  difFufes 
them  over  the  cavities  of  valleys,  and  ftops  them  at  the 
windings  of  rivers,  giving  you  a  glimpfe,  at  intervals, 
of  their  long  canals,  illuminated  by  the  Sun.  She  thus 
multiplies  their  plans,  and  prolongs  their  extent.  She 
fometimes  withdraws  this  magic  veil  from  the  bottom  of 
the  valleys,  and  rolling  it  over  the  adjacent  mountains, 
on  which  fhe  tinges  it  with  vermillion  and  azure,  fhe 
confounds  the  circumference  of  the  Earth  with  the  vault 
of  Heaven.  It  is  thus,  that  fhe  employs  clouds  as  evan- 
efcent  as  the  illufions  of  human  life,  to  raife  us  to  Heav- 
en ;   it  is   thus  that   flie   expands  over  her  moft  profound 

VOL.    II,  H  li 


a^o  A  VINDICATION  of 

myfteries,  the  ineffable  fenfations  of  infinity,  and  that  (bt 
withdraws  from  our  fenfes  the  perception  of  her  Works, 
in  order  to  cenivey  to  our  minds  a  more  impreflive  feeling 
of  there. 


ANIMAL  HARMONIES  OF  PLANTS. 


Nature,  after  having  eftabliflied  on  a  foil  formed  of 
fragments,  infenfible  and  lifelefs,  vegetables  endowed  with 
principles  oi  life,  of  growth  and  generation,  accommodat- 
ed to  thefe  beings  which  had,  together  with  thefe  fame 
faculties,  the  power  of  felf  motion,  difpofitions  to  inhabit 
them,  paflions  to  derive  their  nouriftiment  from  them,  and 
an  inftinft  which  impels  them  to  make  a  proper  choice : 
Thefe  are  animals.  I  (hall  here  fpeak  only  of  the  mofl 
common  relations  which  they  have  with  plants  ;  but  were 
I  to  attempt  a  detail  of  thofe  .which  their  innumerable 
tribes  have  with  tho  elements,  with  each  other,  and  with 
Man,  whatever  might  be  my  ignorance,  I  fhould  difclofe 
a  multitude  of  fcenes  flill  more  worthy  of  admiration. 

In  an  order  entirely  new,  Nature  has  not  changed  her 
Laws  :  She  has  ellablifhed  the  fame  harmonies  and  the 
fame  contrafls,  of  animals  to  plants,  as  of  plants  to  the  el- 
ements. It  would  appear  natural  to  our  feeble  reafon, 
and  confonant  to  the  great  principles  of  our  Sciences, 
which  afcribe  [o  much  power  to  analogies,  and  to  phyfi- 
cal  caufes,  that  fo  many  fcnfible  beings  which  are  pro- 
duced in  the  midfl  of  verdure,  ihould  be,  in  procefs  of 
time,  affefted  by  it.  The  imprefTions  of  their  parents, 
added  to  thofe  of  their  own  infancy,  which  ferve  to  ex- 
plain fo  many  appearances  in  the  human  fpecies,  acquir- 
ing, in  them,  increafing  ftrength,  from  generation  to  gene- 
ration, by  new  tints,  ought,  at  length,  to  exhibit  oxen  and 
fheep  as  green  as  the  grafs  on  which  they  pafture.     We 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  t^i 

liave  obfervcd,  in  the  preceding  Study,  that  as  vegetables 
were  detached  from  the  ground  by  means  of  their  green 
colour,  the  animals  which  live  on  verdure  diftinguifli 
themfelves  from  it,  in  their  turn,  by  means  of  their  dufky 
colours;  andthofe  which  live  on  the  du/ky  barks  of  trees, 
©rof  other  dark  grounds,  are  invefted  with  colours  bril- 
liant, and  fometimes  green. 

On  this  fubjeft,  I  have  to  remark,  that  many  fpecies  of 
the  birds  of  India,  which  live  amidft  the  foliage  of  trees, 
as  the  greateft  part  of  paroquets,  many  of  the  colibri, 
and  even  of  turtles,  arc  of  the  fined  green  ;  but  independ- 
ently of  the  white,  blue  and  red  marbled  fpots,  which  dif- 
tinguilh  their  different  tribes,  and  render  them  perceptible 
at  a  diftance  upon  the  trees,  the  brilliant  verdure  of  their 
plumage  detaches  them,  to  great  advantage,  from  the  fol- 
emn  and  imbrowned  verdure  of  thofe  fouthern  forefts. 
We  have  feen  that  Nature  employs  this  as  the  general 
means  of  diminishing  the  reflexes  of  the  heat ;  but,  that 
(he  might  not  confound  the  objefts  of  her  pifture,  if  flie 
has  darkened  the  ground  of  her  fcene,  Ihe  has  beilewed 
greater  brilliancy  on  the  drefTes  of  the  a6l:ors. 

It  would  appear  that  Nature  has  appropriated  the  fpe- 
cies of  animals  coloured,  in  the  moil  agreeable  manner,  to 
the  fpecies  of  vegetables,  whofe  flowers  are  the  leaft  viv- 
id, as  a  compenfation.  There  are  much  fewer  brilliant 
flowers  between  the  Tropics,  than  in  the  temperate  Zones  ; 
and,  as  a  compenfation,  the  infefts,  the  birds,  and  even 
the  <juadrupcds,  fuch  as  feveral  fpecies  of  monkeys  and 
lizards,  are  there  arrayed  in  the  mofl:  lively  colours. 
When  they  reft  on  their  proper  vegetable,  they  form  with 
them  the  mofl  beautiful  contrails,  and  the  mofl  lovelv 
harmonies,  I  have  often  flood  flill,  in  the  Weftindies, 
to  contemplate  the  little  lizards,  which  live  on  the  branch- 
es of  trees,  employing  themfelves  in  catching  flies.  They 
are  of  a  beautiful  apple  green,  and  have  on  their  back  a 
fort  of  charafters  of  the  mofl  vivid  red,  refembling  the 
letters  of  the  Arabian  alphabet.     When  a  cocoa  trca  haJ 


2^3  A  VINDICATION  Of 

feveral  of  them  difperfed  along  its  ftem,  never  was  there 
Egyptian  Pyramid  ot  porphyry,  with  its  hieroglyphics, 
fo  myfterious  and  fo  magnificent,  in  my  eyes.* 

I  have,  likewife,  feen  flocks  of  fmall  birds,  denominat- 
ed cardinals,  becaufe  they  are  red  all  over,  fettle  on  fhrub- 
bery,  the  verdure  of  which  was  blackened  by  the  Sun,  and 
prefent  the  appearance  of  girandoles  ftudded  with  little 
burning  lamps.  Father  du  Tertre  fays,  that  there  is  not, 
in  the  Antilles,  a  fpeftacle  more  brilliant,  than  the  alight- 
ing of  coveys  of  the  parrot  fpecies,  called  arras,  on  the 
fummit  of  a  palm  tree.  The  blue,  the  red  and  the  yellow 
of  their  plumage,  covers  the  boughs  of  the  flowerlefs  tree, 
with  the  moft  fuperb  enamel.  Harmonies  fomewhat  fim- 
ilar  may  be  feen  in  our  own  climates.  The  goldfinch, 
with  his  red  head,  and  wings  tipped  with  yellow,  appears, 
at  a  diftance,  on  a  bufli,  like  the  flower  of  the  thiflle  in 
which  he  was  hatched.  You  would  fometimes  take  the 
flate  coloured  wagtail,  when  perched  on  the  extremity  of 
the  leaves  of  a  reed,  for  the  flower  of  the  iris. 

It  would  be  a  very  great  curiofity  to  coUeft  a  great 
number  of  thefe  oppofitions,  and  of  thofe  analogies.  They 
would  lead  us  to  a  difcovery  of  the  plant,  which  is  pecu- 
liarly adapted  to  each  animal.  Naturalifl;s  have  paid  to 
thofe  adaptations  no  great  degee  of  attention  ;  fuch  of 
them  as  have  written  the  Hiftory  of  Birds,  have  clafTed 
them  according  to  the  feet,  the  bill,  the  noflrils.  They 
fometimes  fpeak  of  the  feafons  of  their  appearance,  but 
fcarcely  ever  of  the  trees  which  they  frequent.  Thofe 
only  who,  employed  in  making  collections  of  butterflies, 
are  frequently  under  the  neceffity  of  looking  for  them  in 
their  flate  of  nymph,  or  caterpillar,  have  fometimes  diftin- 
guifhed  thofe  infctls  by  the  names  of  the  vegetables  on 

*  They  liave  foraetimcfi  fcrvcd  mc  to  explain  the  moral  fenfe  of  hiero- 
glyphics, engraven  on  the  obelifks  of  Egypt,  in  honour  of  her  conquering 
heroes.  •  On  beholding  the  charaflcrs  traced  upon  them  from  right  to  left, 
with  heads,  beaks  and  pawSj  thrj'  breught  to  my  rccollcflion  the  little  Ry 
•aichcrs  of  myp^ilm  trees^ 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  2^3 

which  they  found  them.  Such  are  the  caterpillars  of  the 
tithymale,  of  the  pine,  of  the  elm,  and  fo  on,  which  they 
difcovered  to  be  peculiarly  appropriated  to  thefe  vegeta- 
ables.  But  there  is  not  an  animal  exifling  but  what  may 
be  referred  to  its  own  particular  correfponding  plant:. 

We  have  divided  plants  into  aerial,  aquatic  and  terrel- 
trial,  as  animals  themfelves  are  divifcble,  and  we  have 
found,  in  the  two  extreme  claffes,  unvarying  harmonies 
with  their  elements.  They  may  be  farther  divided  into 
two  claffes,  into  trees  and  herbs,  as  animals  likcwife  are 
into  volatile  and  quadrupeds.  Nature  does  not  affociate  the 
two  kingdoms  in  confonances,  but  in  contrails ;  that 
is,  fhe  does  not  attach  the  great  animals  to  the  great  veg- 
etables ;  but  unites  them  contrariwife,  by  affociating  the 
clafs  of  trees  with  that  of  the  fmall  animals,  and  that  of 
herbs  with  the  great  quadrupeds  :  And  by  means  of  thefe 
oppofitions,  fhe  beftows  adaptations  ol  proteftion  to  the 
feeble,  and  of  accommodation  to  the  powerful. 

This  Law  is  fo  general,  that  1  have  remarked,  in  every 
country,  where  there  is  no  great  variety  in  the  fpecies  of 
graffes,  thofe  of  the  quadrupeds  which  live  upon  them  are 
but  few  in  number  ;  and  that  wherever  the  fpecies  of 
trees  are  multiplied,  thofe  of  volatile  are  likewife  fo.  The 
truth  of  this  may  be  afcertained  by  confulting  the  herbals 
of  many  parts  of  America,  and,  among  others,  thofe  of 
Guyana  and  of  Brafil,  which  prefent  but  few  varieties  in 
the  graffes,  but  a  great  number  in  the  trees.  It  is  well 
known  that  thofe  countries  have,  in  fa61,  fev^  quadrupeds 
natural  to  them,  and  that  they  are  peopled,  on  the  contra- 
ry, with  an  infinite  variety  of  birds  and  infefts. 

If  we  call  a  glance  on  the  relations  of  graffes  to  quadru- 
peds, we  fhall  find  that,  notwithftanding  their  apparent 
contrafls,  there  is  aftually  between  thcni  a  m.nltitude  of 
real  correfpondencies.  The  fmall  elevation  of  the  gram- 
ineous plants  places  them  within  the  reach  of  the  jaws  of 
quadrupeds,  whofe  head  is  in  a  horizontal  polition,  and 
Irequently  incliiicd  toward  the  ground.     Their  delicate 


e^^  A  VINDICATION  of 

{hoots  feem  formed  to  be  laid  hold  of  by  broad  and  flefhy 
lips  ;  their  tender  flems,  eafily  fnapped  by  the  incifiv^c 
teeth;  their  mealy  feeds  eafily  bruifed  by  the  grinders. 
Befides,  their  biifliy  tiifts,  and  elaftic  without  being  ligne- 
ous, prefent  foft  litter  to  ponderous  bodies. 

If,  on  the  contrary,  we  examine  the  correfpondencies 
which  cxift  between  trees  and  birds,  wc  fliall  find  that  the 
branches  of  trees  may  be  eafily  clafped  by  the  four  toed 
feet  of  moft  birds,  which  Nature  has  difpofed  in  fuch  a 
manner,  that  by  means  of  three  before  and  one  behind, 
they  may  be  able  to  grafp  the  bough  as  with  a  hand.  A- 
gain,  the  birds  find,  in  the  different  tiers  of  the  foliage, 
a  fhelter  againfl  the  rain,  the  Sun,  and  the  cold,  toward 
which  the  thicknefs  of  the  trunks  farther  contribute.  The 
apertures  formed  in  thefe,  and  the  moffes  which  grow  up- 
on them,  furnifh  fituations  for  building  their  nefls,  and 
jnaterials  for  lining  them.  The  round  or  oblong  feeds  of 
trees  are  accommodated  to  the  form  of  their  bills.  Such 
as  bear  flefliy  fruits  are  reforted  to  by  birds,  which  have 
beaks  pointed,  or  crooked,  like  a  pick  axe. 

In  the  i Hands  of  the  regions  fituated  between  the  Trop- 
ics, and  along  the  banks  of  the  great  rivers  of  America, 
the  greaieft  part  of  maritime  and  fluviatic  trees,  among 
others,  many  fpecics  of  the  palm  tree,  bear  fruits  enclofed 
in  very  hard  fhells,  whereby  they  are  enabled  to  float  on 
the  face  of  the  waters,  which  refow  them  at  a  great  dif- 
tancc  ;  but  their  covering  does  not  fecure  them  from  the 
attack  of  the  birds.  'I  he  different  tribes  of  paroquets 
lA-hich  have  made  them  their  habitation,  and  of  which  I 
have  reafon  to  believe  that  there  is  a  fpecies  appropriated 
to  each  fpecies  of  palm  tree,  eafily  find  means  to  open 
their  hard  cafes  with  hooked  bills,  which  pierce  like  an 
?wl,  and  hold  fall  like  pincers. 

Nature  has,  iart^er,  acconunodatcd  animals  of  a  third 
ttrdcr,  which  find  in  the  bark,  or  in  the  flower  of  a  plant, 
as  many  convcniencies  as  the  quadruped  has  in  a  mead- 
t)W,  or  the  bjrd  in  the  whole  tree  :    1  mean  the   infctis. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  2^5 

Certain  naturalifts  have  divided  them  into  fix  great  tribes, 
which  they  have  charafterized,  according  to  cuilom,  but 
to  very  little  purpofe,  by  Greek  names.  They  clafs  them 
into  coleopterous^  or  cafed,  infe6ls ;  as  the  fcarab  tribe, 
fuch  are  our  maybugs,  or  chafers  :  Into  hampterous,  or 
half  cafed,  as  the  gallinfetls,  fuch  is  the  kermes  :  Into 
tetrapterous  farinaceous,  or  four  mealy  winged,  as  butter- 
flies ;  into  tctrapterdus,  without  any  addition,  or  four  nak- 
ed winged,  as  bees  ;  into  dipterous,  or  two  winged,  as  the 
common  fly ;  and  into  apterous,  or  winglefs,  as  the  ant. 
But  thefe  fix  clafles  admit  of  a  multitude  of  divifions  and 
of  fubdivifions,  which  unite  fpecies  ot  infefts,  of  forms 
and  inftin£ts  the  moll  diflimilar;  and  feparate  a  great  ma- 
ny others  of  them  which  have  othervvife  a  very  ftriking 
analogy  among  themfelves. 

Whatever  may  be  in  this,  the  order  of  animals  in  quef- 
tion  appears  to  be  particularly  attributed  to  trees.  Pliny 
obferves  that  ants  are  fmgularly  fond  of  the  grains  of  the 
cyprefs.  He  tells  us,  that  they  attack  the  cones  which 
contain  them,  on  their  hali  opening  as  they  arrive  at  ma- 
turity, and  plunder  them  to  their  very  lalt  feed  ;  and  he 
confiders  it  as  a  miracle  of  Nature,  that  an  infeft  fo  di- 
minutive fhould  deftroy  the  feed  ofoneof  the  largeft  trees 
in  the  World.  I  believe  we  never  fhall  be  able  to  eilab- 
lifh,  in  the  different  tribes  of  infefts,  a  real  order,  and  in 
the  uudy  of  them,  that  pleafure  and  utility  of  which  it  is 
fufceptible,  but  by  referring  them  to  the  different  parts  of 
vegetables.  Thus  we  might  refer  to  the  ne6lars  of  the 
flowers,  the  buuerflies  and  flies  which  are  furniflied  with 
a  probofcis  for  fipping  up  their  juices  ;  to  their  flamina, 
thofe  flies  which,  like  the  bee,  have  fpoon  mouths  fcoop- 
ed  out  in  their  thighs,  lined  with  hair,  for  colleftlng  their 
powder,  and  four  wings  to  aflTift  them  in  carrying  off"  their 
booty ;  to  the  leaves  of  plants,  the  common  flies  and  the 
gallinfefts,  which  have  pointed  and  hollow  prongs  for 
making  incifions  in  them,  and  tor  drinking  up  their  flu- 
ids; to  the  grains,  the  fcarab   race,  as  the  weevil,  which 


2,-6  A  VINDICATION  of 


is  tlcTigncd  to  force  its  way  into  the  heart  of  the  feed  W 
feed  upon  its  meal,  and  which  is  provided  with  wing«, 
inclofed  m  cafes,  to  prevent  their  being  injured,  and  with 
a  file  to  open  for  itfelf  a  pafTage;  to  the  ftem,  thofe  worms 
which  ar6  quite  naked,  becaufe  they  have  no  need  of  be- 
ing clothed  in  a  fubflance  of  wood,  which  flielters  them 
on  every  fide,  but  they  are  furniflicd  with  augers,  by  the 
help  of  which  they  fometimes  go  nigh  to  deftroy  whole 
forefts ;  finally,  to  the  wreck  of  every  fort,  the  ants  which 
come  armed  with  pincers,  and  with  an  inftinft  of  advanc- 
ing in  bands  to  cut  to  pieces,  and  to  carry  ofFevery  thing 
thatfuits  their  purpofe. 

The  dcfcrt  of  this  vaft  vegetable  banquet  is  hurled  down 
by  the  rainy  torrents  to  the  rivers,  and  thence  to  the  Sea, 
where  it  prefents  a  new  order  of  relation  with  the  fifhes. 
It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  the  mo  ft  ata^aftive  baits 
which  can  be  prefented  to  them,  are  deduced  from  the 
vegetable  kingdom,  and  particularly  from  the  grains,  or 
from  the  fubifances  Qf  the  plants,  which  have  the  aquatic 
characters  which  we  have  indicated,  fuch  as  the  hard  fhell 
of  the  Levant,  the  rufli  of  Smyrna,  the  juice  of  the  tithy- 
mal,  the  Celtic  fpikcnard,  the  cummin,  theanife,  the  net- 
lie,  the  fweet  marjoram,  the  root  of  the  birthwort,  and  the 
feed  of  the  hemp.  Thus,  the  relations  of  thefe  plants 
with  fifhes  confirm  what  has  been  faid  of  thofe  of  their 
grains  with  the  waters. 

By  referring  the  different  tribes  of  infetls  to  the  differ- 
ent parts  of  plants,  and  in  that  way  only,  can  we  difcern 
the  reafons  for  which  Nature  has  been  determined  to  be- 
flow  on  thofe  diminutive  animals  figures  fo  extraordinary. 
Vv'e  fhould  tlien  know  the  ufes  of  their  utcnfils,  of  which 
the  greater  part  is  hitherto  unknown;  and  we  fhould  have 
continually  new  occahon  to  admire  the  Divine  Intelli- 
gence, and  to  perte£l  our  own.  On  the  other  ha-nd,  fuch 
progrcfs  in  knowledge  would  diffufe  the  clearefl  light  o- 
ver  many  parts  of  plants,  the  utility  of  which  is   a  worlA 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  g^ 

unknown  to  Botanifts,  becaufe   they  have   tronfonancefi 
•nly  with  animals. 

I  am  perfuaded,  that  there  is  not  a  fingle  vegetable  but 
what  has  connefled  with  it,  at  leaft,  one  individual  of 
^ach  of  the  fix  general  claffes  of  infefts,  acknowledged  by 
Naturalifts.  As  Nature  has  divided  each  genus  of  plants 
into  different  fpecies,  in  order  to  render  them  capable  of 
growing  in  different  fituations  ;  flie  has,  in  like  manner, 
divided  each  genus  of  infefts  into  different  fpecies,  in  or- 
der to  adapt  them  to  inhabit  different  fpecies  of  plants. 
For  this  reafon  fhe  has  painted,  and  numbered,  in  a  thoufw 
and  different,  but  invariable  ways,  the  almoft  infinite  di- 
vifions  of  the  fame  branch.  For  example,  we  conftantly 
find  on  the  elm  the  beautiful  butterfly,  called  the  gold 
brocade,  on  account  of  its  rich  colouring.  That  which 
goes  by  the  name  of  the  four  omicrons,  and  which  lives  I 
know  not  where,  always  produces  defcendants  impreffed 
with  that  Greek  charafter,  four  times,  on  their  wings. 
There  is  a  fpecies  of  bee  with  five  claws,  which  lives  on 
radiated  flowers  only  ;  without  thofe  claws,  flie  could  not 
cling  faff  to  the  plane  mirrors  of  thofe  flowers,  and  load 
herfelf  from  their  ftamina,  fo  eafily  as  the  common  bee, 
which  ufually  labours  at  the  bottom  of  thofe  which  have 
a  deep  corolla. 

Not  that  I  imagine  any  one  plant  nouriflied,  in  its  dif- 
ferent  varieties,  all  the  collateral  branches  of  one  family 
of  infefts.  I  believe  that  each  genus  of  thefe  extends 
much  farther  than  the  genus  of  plants  which  ferves  as  its 
principal  bafis.  '  In  this,  Nature  manifefts  another  of  her 
Laws,  by  virtue  of  which  flie  has  rendered  that  the  befl 
which  is  the  moft  common.  As  the  animal  is  of  a  nature 
fuperior  to  the  vegetable,  the  fpecies  of  the  firft  are  more 
multiplied,  and  more  generally  diffufed  than  thofe  of  the. 
fecond.  For  example,  there  are  not  fo  many  as  fixteea 
hundred  fpecies  of  plants  in  the  vicinity  of  Paris;  but 
within  the  fame  compafs  there  are  enumerated  near  fix 
thoufand  fpecies  of  flies.     This  leads  jnc   to   prefumc, 

VOL,    II.  jf  i 


2.S  A  VINDICATION  or 

therefore,  that  the  diflerent  tribes  of  plants  crofs  with  thofe 
of  animals,  which  renders  their  fpecies  fufceptible  of  dif- 
ferent harmonies.  Of  this  a  judgment  may  be  formed 
from  the  variety  of  talles,  in  birds  of  the  fame  family. 
The  black  headed  yellow  hammer  neflles  in  the  ivy  ;  the 
red  headed  in  walls,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  hemp  fields ; 
the  brown  yellow  hammer  builds  on  trees  by  the  high- 
way's fide,  where  fhe  finifhes  off  her  neft  with  horfe  hair. 
A  dozen  fpecies  of  that  bird  are  enumerated  in  our  cli- 
mates, each  of  which  has  its  particular  department.  Our 
different  forts  of  larks  are  likewife  apportioned  to  differ- 
ent fituations  ;  to  the  woods,  to  the  meadows,  to  the  heaths, 
to  arable  lands,  and  to  the  fhores  of  the  Sea. 

Very  interefling  obfervations  may  be  made  refpefting 
the  duration  of  vegetables,  which  are  unequal,  though 
fubjugated  to  the  influences  of  the  fame  elements.  The 
oak  ferves  as  a  monument  to  the  nations :  and  the  nojlo^ 
cium,  which  grows  at  his  foot,'  lives  only  a  fingle  day. 
All  I  ffiall  fay  upon  this  head,  in  general,  is,  that  the  pe- 
riod of  their  decay  is  by  no  means  regulated  in  conformi- 
ty to  that  of  their  growth  ;  neither  is  that  of  their  fecun- 
dity proportioned  to  their  weaknefs,  to  climates,  or  to 
feafons,  as  fome  have  pretended.  Pliny^  quotes  inflan- 
ces  of  holmes,  of  plane  trees,  and  of  cypreffes,  which  ex- 
ifled  in  his  time,  and  which  were  more  ancient  than  Rome, 
fhat  is,  more  than  feven  hundred  years  old.  He  farther 
tells  us,  that  there  were  ftill  to  be  feen  near  Troy,  around 
the  tomb  of  llus,  oaks  which  had  been  there  from  the 
time  that  Troy  took  the  name  of  Ilium,  which  carries  us 
back  to  an  antiquity  much  more  remote. 

I  have  feen,  in  Lower  Normandy,  in  a  village  church 
yard,  an  aged  yew,  planted  in  the  time  of  William  the 
Conqueror;  it  is  flill  crowned  with  verdure,  though  its 
trunk  cavernous,  and  through  and  through  pervious  to 
ihe  day,  refembl^s  the  ftavcs  of  an  old  cafk.     Nay,  there 

♦  Natural  HiHory,  book  xvi.  chap.  44, 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE,  «59 

are  buflies  which  feem  to  have  immortality  conferred  up- 
on them.  We  find,  in  many  parts  of  the  kingdom,  haw- 
thorns, which  the  devotion  of  the  Commonahy  has  confe- 
crated  by  images  of  the  Virgin,  and  which  have  laded  for 
feveral  ages,  as  may  be  afcertairied  by  the  infcriptions  up- 
on  the  chapels  which  have  been  reared  in  the  vicinity. 

But,  in  general,  Nature  has  proportioned  the  duration 
and  the  fecundity  of  plants  to  the  demands  of  animal  life. 
A  great  many  plants  expire  as  foon  as  they  have  yielded 
their  feed,  which  they  c@mmit  to  the  winds.  There  arc 
fome,  fuch  as  mufhrooms,  whofe  exiftence  is  limited  to  a 
few  days,  as  the  fpecies  of  flies  which  feed  upon  them. 
Others  retain  their  feeds  all  the  Winter  through,  for  the 
ufe  of  the  birds ;   fuch  are  the  fruits  of  moft  flirubs. 

The  fecundity  of  plants  is  by  no  means  regulated  ac- 
cording to  their  fize;   but  proportionally  to  the   fecundity 
of  the  animal  fpecies  which   is  to  feed  upon  them.     The 
pannic,    and  the  fmall   millet,  and  fome  other  gramineous 
plants,  fo  ufeful  to  man   and  beaft,  produce  incomparably 
more  grains  than  many  plants,  both  greater  and  fmaller 
than  themfelves.     There  are  many  herbs  which  perpet- 
uate themfelves,  by  their  feeds,  only  once  a  year  ;  but  the 
chickweed  renovates  itfelf  by  its  feeds,  up   to   feven  or 
eight  times,  without  being  interrupted  in  the  procefs  even 
by  Winter,     it  produces  ripe  feeds  within  fix  weeks  from 
the  time  of  its  being  fown.     The  capfule,  which  contains 
them,  then  inverts  itfelf,  turning  toward  the  earth  and  half 
opens,  to  leave  them  at  liberty  to  be  carried  away  by  the 
winds,  and  the  rains,  which  fow  them  again  every  where. 
This  plant   q;ifures,  the  whole  year    through,   the  fubfift- 
ence  of  the   fmall  birds   of  our  climates.     Thus,   Provi- 
dence is  fo  much  the  more  powerful,   as  the  creature  is 
more  feeble. 

Other  plants  have  relations  to  animals  the  more  tender- 
ly afFecling,  in  proportion  as  climates  and  feafons  feem  t© 
exercife  over  the  animal  the  greater  degree  of  feverity. 
Were  we  cnabl«4  to  iHveftigatc  thefe.  adaptations  to  the 


b6«  a  vindication  of 

bottom,  they  would  explain  all  the  varieties  of  vegetation, 
in  every  latitude,  and  in  every  feafon.  Wherefore,  for 
example,  do  mod  of  the  trees  of  the  North  fhed  their 
leaves  in  Winter  ;  and  wherefore  do  thofe  of  the  South  re- 
tain theirs  all  the  year  round?  Wherefore,  in  defiance  of 
the  Winter's  cold  in  the  North,  do  the  firs  there  continue 
always  clothed  with  verdure  ?  It  is  a  matter  of  no  fmall 
difficulty  to  difcover  the  caufe  of  this ;  but  the  end  is  ob- 
vioufly  difcernible.  If  the  birch  and  the  larch  of  the 
North  drop  their  foliage,  on  the  approach  of  Winter,  it  is 
to  furnilh  litter  to  the  beafts  of  the  foreft  ;  and  if  the  pyr- 
amidical  fir  there  retains  its  leaves,  it  is  to  afford  them 
fhelter  amidft  the  fnows.  This  tree  then  prefents  to  the 
birds  the  mofTes  which  are  fufpended  on  its  branches,  and 
its  cones  replenilhed  with  ripe  kernels.  In  their  vicinity, 
oft  times,  thickets  of  the  fervice  tree  difplay  for  their  ufc 
the  fhining  clufters  of  their  fcarlet  berries. 

In  the  Winters  of  our  climates,  many  evergreen  Ihrubs, 
as  the  ivy,  the  privet  and  others,  which  remain  loaded 
with  black  or  red  fruit,  contrafting  ftrikingly  with  the 
fnow,  as  the  prime  print,  the  thorn  and  the  eglantine,  pre- 
fent  to  the  winged  creation  both  a  habitation  and  food. 
In  the  countries  of  the  Torrid  Zone,  the  earth  is  clothed 
with  frefh  liannes,  and  fhaded  with  trees  of  a  broad  foliage, 
under  which  animals  find  a  cool  retreat.  The  trees  them- 
felves,  of  thofe  climates,  feem  afraid  of  expofing  their 
fruits  to  the  burning  heat  of  the  Sun :  Inftead  of  rearing 
them  as  a  cone,  or  exhibiting  them  on  the  circumference 
of  their  heads,  they  frequently  conceal  them  under  a  thick 
foliage,  and  bear  them  attached  to  their  trunks,  or  at  the 
fprouting  of  their  branches  :  Such  are  the  jacquier,  the  ba- 
nana, the  palm  tree  of  every  fpecies,  the  papayer,  and  a 
multitude  of  others.  If  their  fruits  invite  not  the  animals 
cxtenialiy,  by  vivid  colours,  they  call  them  by  the  noifc 
which  they  excite.  The  lumpifli  cocoanut,  as  it  falls 
from  the  height  of  the  tree  which  bears  it,  makes  the  earth 
refound  to  a  confidcrable  diftance.     The  black  pods  •f 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  261 

the  canntffichr^  when  ripe,  and  agitated  by  the  wind,  pro- 
duce, as  they  clafh  againft  each  other,  a  found  refembling 
the  tic  tac  of  a  mill.  When  the  grayifn  fruit  of  the  gtxv- 
ipa  of  the  Antilles  comes  to  maturity,  and  falls  from  the 
tree,  it  bounces  on  the  ground  with  a  noife  like  the  re- 
port of  a  piftol.*  Upon  this  fignal,  more  than  one  gueft, 
no  doubt,  reforts  thither  in  queft  of  a  repaft.  This  fruit 
feems  particularly  deftined  to  the  ufe  of  the  land  crabs, 
which  are  eagerly  fond  of  it,  and  very  foon  grow  fat  on 
this  kind  of  food.  It  would  have  anfwered  no  purpofe 
to  them  to  fee  it  on  the  tree,  which  they  are  incapable  of 
climbing  ;  but  they  are  informed  of  the  moment  when  it 
is  proper  for  food,  by  the  noife  of  its  fall.  ^ 

Other  fruits,  as  the  jaque  and  mango,  affe6l  the  fenfe 
of  fmelling  in  animals  fo  powerfully,  as  to  be  perceptible 
more  than  the  quarter  of  a  league  diftant,  when  the  fruit 
is  to  windward.  I  believe  that  this  property,  of  emitting 
a  powerful  perfume,  is  likewife  common  to  fuch  of  our 
fruits  as  lie  concealed  under  the  foliage,  apricots,  for  in- 
ftance.  There  are  other  vegetables  which  manifefl  them- 
felves  to  animals,  if  I  may  ufe  that  expreflion,  only  in  the 
night  time.  The  jalap  of  Peru,  or  the  belle  of  the  night, 
opens  not  her  ftrongly  fcented  flowers  except  in  the  dark. 
The  flower  of  the  nafturtium,  or  nun,  which  is  a  native  of 
the  fame  country,  emits,  in  the  d^.rk,  a  phofphoric  light, 
obferved,  for  the  firft  time,  in  Europe,  by  a  daughter  of 
the  celebi'ated  Linnczus. 

The  properties  of  thefe  plants  convey  a  happy  idea  of 
thofe  delightful  climates,  in  which  the  nights  are  fuf- 
ficiently  calm,  and  fufficiently  luminous  to  difclofe  a 
new  order  of  fociety  among  animals.  Nay,  there  are  in*. 
fe6ls  which  fland  in  no  need  of  any  pharos  to  afTift  them 
in  fleering  their  noflurnal  courfes.  They  carry  their  lan- 
terns about  them  ;  fuch  are  the  fpecies  of  luminous  flies. 
They  fcatter  themfelves,  fometimes,  in  the  groves  of  or- 

*  Father  iu  Tertre's  Hiftoryof  :he  Antilles. 


262  A  VINDICATION  of 

ange  trees,  of  papayas,  and  other  fruit  trees,  in  the  midft 
of  the  darkeft  night.  They  dart,  at  once,  by  feveral  reit- 
crated  beatings  of  their  wings,  a  dozen  of  fiery  ftreams, 
which  illuminate  the  foliage  and  fruits  of  the  trees  where- 
on they  fettle,  with  a  golden  and  bluifh  light  ;*  then,  all 
at  once  reprefling  their  motion,  they  plunge  again  into  ob- 
fcurity.  They  alternately  refume  and  intermit  this  fport 
during  the  whole  night.  Sometimes  there  are  detached 
from  them  fwarms  of  brilliant  fparks  of  light,  which  rife 
into  the  air,  like  the  emanations  of  a  firework. 

Were  wc  to  ftudy  the  relations    which   plants  have  t» 
animals,  we  fhould  perceive  in  them  the  ufe  of  many  of 
the  parts,  which  are  frequently  confidered  as  produ6lions 
of  the  caprice,  and  of  the  confufion,  of  Nature.      So  wide- 
ly extended  are  thofe  relations,  that  it  may  be  confidently 
affirmed,  that  there  is  not  a  down  upon  a  plant,  not  an 
intertexture  of  a  flirub,  not  a  cavity,  not  a  colour  of  leaf, 
not  a  prickle,  but  what  has  its  utility.     Thefe  wonderful 
harmonies  are  efpecially  to  be  remarked,  with  relation  to 
the   lodaincrs  and  the  nefts   of  animals.     If,   in  hot   coun- 
tries,  there  are  plants  loaded  with  down,    it  is  becaufe 
there  are  moths,  entirely  naked,  which  clip  off  their  fleece, 
and  weave  it  into  clothing.     There  is  found,  on  the  banks 
of  the   Amazon,   a   fpecies   of  reed,   from  twentyfive  to 
thirty  feet  high,  the  fummit  of  which  is  terminated  by  a 
large  ball  of  earth.     This  ball  is  the  workmanfhip  of  the 
ants,  which  retire  thither  at  the  time  of  the  rains,  and  of 
the  periodical  inundations  of  that  river  :   They  go  up,  and 
defcend   along   the   cavity   of  this   reed,  and   live  on  the 
refufe  which  is  then  fwimming  around  them  on  the  fur- 
face  of  the  water. 

It  is,  I  piefumc,  for  the  purpofe  of  furnlfliing  fimilar 
retreats  to  many  fmall  infe6b,  that  Nature  has  hollowed 
the  flcms  of  moll  of  our  plants  of  the  fiiore.     The  valif- 

*  Confult  the  fame  ^^'ork  of  du  Tcrtre. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  263 

ueria,*  which  grows  in  the  ftream  of  the  Rhone,  and  car- 
ries its  flower  on  a  fpiral  ftem,  capable  of  being  drawn 
out  in  proportion  to  the  rapidity  of  the  fudden  fwcUings 
of  that  river,  has  holes  pierced  through  at  the  bafis  of  its 
leaves,  the  ufe  of  which  is  much  more  extraordinary.  If 
you  take  up  this  plant  by  the  root,  and  put  it  into  a  large 
vefTel  full  of  water,  you  perceive,  at  the  bafis  of  its  leaves, 
mafles  of  a  bluifli  jelly,  which  infenfibly  lengthen  into 
pyramids  of  a  beautiful  red.  Thefe  pyramids  prefently 
furrow  themfelves  into  flutings,  which  difengage  from  the 
fummit,  invert  themfelves  all  around,  and  prefent,  by 
their  expanfion,  very  beautiful  flowers  formed  of  rays 
purple,  yellow  and  blue.  By  little  and  little,  each  of 
thefe  flowers  advances  out  of  the  cavity  in  which  it  is 
partly  contained,  and  withdraws  to  fome  diftance  from  the 
plant,  remaining,  however,  attached  to  it,  by  a  fmall  fila- 
ment. You  then  perceive  each  of  the  rays  of  which  thofe 
flowers  are  compofed,  afTume  a  motion  peculiar  to  itfelf, 
which  communicates  a  circular  movement  to  the  water, 
and  precipitates  to  the  centre  of  each  of  them  all  the 
fmall  bodies  which  are  floating  around.  If  thofe  won- 
derful expanfions  are  difturbed  by  any  fudden  fliock,  im- 
mediately every  filament  contrafts,  all  the  rays  clofe,  and 
all  the  pyramids  retire  into  their  cavities ;  for  thofe  pre- 
tended flowers  are  polypufes. 

There  are,  in  certain  plants,  parts  which  may  be  con- 
fidered  as  charafters  of  uncultivated  Nature,  but  which 
are  like  all  the  reft  of  her  Works,  evident  proofs  of  the 
wifdom  and  providence  of  her  Author  ;  fuch  are  the 
prickles.     Their  forms  are  varied  without  end,  efpecially 

*  Confult,  with  regard  to  the  Valifneria,  the  Voyage  of  an  anonymous 
JEnglifh  traveller,  performed  in  the  year  1750,  to  France,  Italy,  and  the 
Iflands  of  the  Archipelago,  in  four  fmall  volumes,  vol.  i.  It  is  ftored  with 
judicious  obfervations  of  every  kind.  Confult  likewife,  refpefling  the  gen- 
ipa,  and  the  different  fruits,  plants,  and  animals  of  fouthern  countries,  the 
fprightly  Father  du  Tertre,  the  patriotic  Father  Charlevoix^  John  de  Lset^  the 
Hiftorian,  and  all  travellers  who  have  written  on  the  fubjeft  of  Nature, 
vithout  the  fpirit  of  fyfteoj,  affifted  by  the  iigbt  of  rifafo^i  alone. 


a64  A  VI>;dICATION  of 

in  hot  countries.  Some  are  fhaped  like  faws,  like  hooks, 
like  needles,  like  the  head  of  a  halberd,  and  like  caltrops, 
fome  of  them  are  round  like  awls,  fome  triangular,  like 
the  fhoemaker's  piercer,  and  fome  flattened  like  a  lancet. 
There  is  no  lefs  variety  in  their  aggregations.  Some  arc 
arranged  on  the  leaves  in  balls,  like  thofe  of  the  opuntia ; 
others  in  ftripes,  like  thofe  of  the  Peruvian  taper.  Some 
are  invifible,  as  thofe  of  the  fhrub  of  the  Antilles,  known 
by  tlie  name  of  captain's  wood.  The  leaves  of  this  form- 
idable plant,  appear,  on  the  upper  fide,  fmooth  and  fliin- 
inff ;  but  they  are  covered,  on  the  under  fide,  with  very- 
delicate  prickles,  which  are  inferted  in  fuch  a  manner, 
that,  apply  your  hand  to  them  ever  fo  cautioufly,  it  is  im- 
poflible  to  avoid  pricking  your  fingers. 

There  are  other  thorns  planted  only  on  the  flems  of 
plants,  others  are  on  their  branches.  In  our  climates, 
they  are  fcarcely  ever  to  be  found,  except  on  flirubbery, 
and  on  a  few  trees  ;  but  in  both  Indies,  they  are  fcattered 
over  a  great  many  fpecies  of  trees.  Their  very  various 
forms  and  difpofitions  have  relations,  of  which  the  great- 
eft  part  are  to  us  unknown,  to  the  fecurity  and  defence  of 
the  birds  which  live  upon  them.  It  was  neceffary  that 
many  of  the  trees  of  thofe  countries  fhould  be  armed  with 
thorns,  becaufe  many  quadrupeds  are  there  to  be  foun4, 
capable  of  climbing  them,  to  eat  the  eggs  and  the  young 
of  buds,  fuch  as  the  monkey,  the  civet  cat,  the  tyger,  the 
wild  cat,  the  mulk  rat,  ihe  opoffum,  the  wild  rat  and  even 
the  common  rat. 

The  Afiatic  acacia*  prefents  to  its  winged  inhabitants 
a  retreat  abfolutcly  inacccffible  to  their  enemies.     It  bears 

♦  There  is  a  plant  of  the  Afiatic  acacia  to  be  feen  in  that  beautiful  garden 
adjacent  to  the  iron  gate  of  Chaillot,  which  formerly  belonged  to  the  virtu- 
ous Chevalier  de  Cenjin.  As  to  the  name  oifal/e  acacia,  given  to  the  acacia 
of  America,  I  rauft  obferve,  that  Nature  produces  nothing  falfe.  She  has 
given  vaiicties  of  all  her  proddftions,  in  all  Countries,  in  order  to  bellow 
upon  them  relations  adapted  to  the  clenjents  and  to  animals  ;  and  when  wc 
do  not  find  in  thefelhe  charaQers  which  we  have  afligoed  to  them,  the  charge 
«f  fallhood  is  not,  iu  ju.^icc,  t»  be  lixcd  on  her  Works,  but  on  our  fyftems. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  £6^ 

ko  prickles  on  its  trunk,  and  in  its  branches  ;  but  at  the 
feeight  of  ten  or  twelve  feet,  precifely  at  the  place  where 
the  tree  begiits  to  branch  off,  there  is  a  belt  of  feveral 
rows  of  large  thorns,  from  ten  to  twelve  inches  in  length, 
prefentlng  an  impenetrable  rampart  of  fpikes,  nearly  re- 
fembling  the  iron  head  of  a  lialberd.  The  collar  of  the 
tree  is  encircled  by  it  in  fuch  a  manner,  that  it  is  impofli- 
ble  for  any  quadruped  to  get  up.  The  acacia  of  America, 
improperly  called  the  falfe  acacia,  has  its  prickles  formed 
into  hooks,  and  fcattered  over  its  branches,  undoubtedly 
from  fome  unknown  relation  of  oppofition  to  the  fpecies 
of  quadruped  which  makes  war  on  the  bird  that  inhab- 
its it. 

There  are,  in  the  Antilles  Iflands,  trees  which  have  no 
thorny  prickles,  but  which  are  much  more  ingenioufly 
protected  than  if  they  had.  A  plant  known  in  thofe  coun- 
tries by  the  name  of  the  prickly  thiftle,  which  is  a  fpecies 
of  creeping  taper,  attaches  its  roots,  fimilar  to  filaments, 
to  the  trunk  of  one  of  thofe  trees,  and  runs  to  the  ground 
all  around  it,  to  a  confiderable  diftance,  croffing  its  branch- 
es one  over  another,  and  forming  an  inclofure  of  them^ 
which  no  quadruped  dares  to  approach.  It  likewife  pro- 
duces a  fruit  very  grateful  to  the  palate.  On  beholding 
a  tree,  the  foliage  of  which  is  harmlefs,  filled  with  birds 
that  have  there  fixed  their  habitation,  furrounded  about 
the  roots  by  one  of  thofe  prickly  thiftles,  and  you  are  pre- 
fented  with  the  idea  of  one  of  thofe  commercial  defence- 
lefs  cities,  apparently  acceflible  on  every  fide,  but  protect- 
ed all  around  .by  a  citadel,  encorapafiing  it  with  extended 
intrenchments.  Thus  the  tree  is  on  one  fide,  and  its  thorn 
on  the  other. 

Quadrupeds,  which  live  on  the  eggs  of  birds,  would  be 
reduced  to  great  diflrefs,  did  not  Nature  fometimes  pro- 
duce, on  the  fummits  of  thofe  very  trees,  a  vegetable  of 
very  extraordinary  form,  which  opens  a  pafTage  to  them. 
It  is,  in  every  refpeft,  the  oppofite  of  the  prickly  thifHe. 
It  is  a  root  of  two  feet  in  length,  as  thick  as  a  man's  leg, 

VOL.  ir,  K  k 


g6^  A  VINDICATION  or 

pricked,  as    if  pierced  with  a  bodkin,  and   adhering  to  a 
branch  of  the  tree,  by  a  multitude  of  filaments,  fomewhat 
in  the  fame  way   that  the  prickly  thiftle  is  affixed  to  the 
under  part  of  its  trunk.     Like   the   other,  it   derives   its 
nourifiiment  from  the  tree,  and   emits  from  ten  to  twelve 
great  leaves,  in   form  of  a  heart,  of  about  three   feet  in 
length,  and  two  feet  in   breadth,  refembllng  the  leaves  of 
the  nyraphcea.     Father  du  Tertre  calls  it  the  falfe  root  of 
China.     What    is    ftill  more   extraordinary,  it  lets  fall, 
from  the  top  of  the  tree  on  which  it  is  placed,    in  a  per- 
pendicular dircaion,.very  ftrong  cordage,  of  the  fize  of  a 
quill    the   whole   length   through,   which   takes  root   on 
reaching  the  ground.    The  plant  itfelf  emits  no  fmell,  but 
this  cordage  fmells    ftrongly    of  garlic.      Undoubtedly, 
when   a   monkey,  or  fome  fuch   clambering  animal,  per- 
ceives this  broad  flandard  of  verdure,  to  no  purpofe  does 
the  tree  oppofe,  around  its  root,  a  fortification  of  thorns, 
this  fignal  announces  that  he  has  a  friend  within  the  for- 
trefs  •  The  fmell  of  the  cordage,  which  defcends  down  to 
the  ground,  direas  him  to  the  fcaling  ladder,  even  during 
the  night;  and  while  the  birds  are  (leeping  in  fecurity  on 
their   nefts,   confident  in  the  ftrength  of  their  bulwarks, 
the  enemy  gets  poffeffion  of  the  town  through  the  fub- 

iirbs. 

In  thofe  countries,  the  thorns  upon  the  trees  afford 
proteftion  even  to  thennfeBs.  Bees  there  carry  on  their 
iioney  making  proceffes  in  the  aged  trunks  of  prickly 
trees,  hollowed  by  the  hand  of  Time.  It  is  very  remark- 
able that  Nature,  who  has  provided  this  refource  for  the 
bees  of  America,  has  withheld  from  them  a  fting,  as  if 
thofe  on  the  trees  were  fufficient  for  their  defence.  I  be- 
lieve that  to  this  reafon  it  may  be  afcribed,  though  no  at- 
tention has  been  paid  to  it,  that  we  have  never  hitherto 
been  able  to  rear  in  the  Antilles  Iflands,  the  honey  bees 
of  the  country.  They  refufcd,  no  doubt,  to  take  up  their 
abode  in  domeftic  hives,  bccaufe  they  did  not  confider 
themfcl-ves  as  there  in  a  Hate  of  fecurity  ;  but  might,  per- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  Uy 

haps,  have  been  induced   to  make   that   choice,   had   the 
hives,  to  which  they  were  invited,  been  decorated  and  de- 
fended by  thorns,  iofiibicr.;.   :   ,;iOv 
If  Nature  employs  prickly  vegetables  fori 'the  defence 
even  of  flies  again  ft  the  attacks  of  quadrupeds,  (he  fome- 
times  makes  ufe  of  the  fame  means  for  deliveWng  quadru- 
peds from  the  perfecution  of  common  flies.     She  has,  in 
truth,   beftowed    on  thofe   which    are  the   mift  expofed 
to  It,  manes  and  tails,  armed  with  long  hair,  to  drive  them 
away  ;   but  the  multiplication  of  thofe   infefts  is    fo  rapid 
m  warm  and  humid  feafons  and  countries^  as  to  threaten 
deftruaion  to  the  v/hole  -race  of  animals.     One  of  the  veg- 
etable barriers,  oppofed  to  them  by  Nature,  is  the  dionctd 
mufcipula.     This  plant  bears  on  one  and  the  fame  branch, 
oppofite  little  leaves,  befmeared  with  a  fugary  liquor,  rc- 
fembling  manna,    and   ftudded  with  very  Iharp  prickles,  r 
When  a  fly  perches  on  one  of  thofe  little  leaves,  they  in- 
ftantly  clofe  with  a  fpring,   like  the  jaws  of  a  wolf  trap, 
and  the  fly  is  fpitted  through  and  through. 

There  is  another  fpecies  of  the  dionoea  which  catches 
thofe  infefts  with  its  flower.  When  the  fly  attempts  to 
extraa.its  neaareous  juices,  the  corolla,  which  is  tubu- 
lous,  ftiuts  at  the  collar,  feizes  the  infea  by  the  probofcis, 
and  thus  puts  it  to  death.  This  plant  is  cukivated  in  the 
Royal  Garden.  It  is  obfervable,  that  its  cup  formed  flow- 
er is  white,  radiated  with  red,  and  that  thefe  two  colours 
univerfally  attraa  flics,  from  their  natural  avidity  of  mili^ 
and  of  blood. 

There  are  aquatic  plants,  armed  with  thorns,  proper  for 
catching  fifties.  You  may-fee  in  die  Royal  Garden,  an 
American  plant,  called  martinia,  the  flower  of  which  has 
a  very  agreeable  odour,  and  which,  from  the  form  of  its 
rounded  leaves,  the  fleeknefs  of  their  tails  and  of  their 
fiems,  has  all  the  aquatic  charaaers  which  have  been  in- 
dicated. It  has  this  farther  charaaer  peculiar  to  itfelf, 
that  It  tranfpires  fo  copioufly  as  to  appear  to  the  touch  in 
a  ftate  of  continual  humidity.    I  can  hct\'e  no  doubt,  there. 


t68  A  VINDICATION  or 

fore,  that  this  plant  grows  in  America  oft  the  brink  of  th^ 
water.  But  the  fhell  which  envelops  its  feeds  poffefles  a 
very  extraordinary  nautical  charafter.  It  refembles  a  fifh 
half  dried,  white  and  black,  with  a  long  fin  upon  the  back. 
The  tail  of  this  fifh  is  drawn  out  into  great  length,  and 
terminates  in  a  very  fliarp  point,  bent  into  the  form  of  a 
fifh  hook.  This  tail  ufually  feparates  into  two,  and  thus 
prefents  a  double  hook.  The  configuration  of  this  vege- 
table fifh  is  completely  fimiiar  in  fize,  and  in  form,  to  the 
hook  which  is  employed  at  fea  for  catching  goldneys,  and 
at  the  head  of  which  is  figured,  in  linen,  a  flying  filh,  with 
this  exception,  that  the  goldney  hook  has  but  one  curve 
and  barb,  whereas  the  fhell  of  the  martinia  has  two,  which 
mull  render  its  effe6l  more  infallible.  This  Ihell  contains 
feveral  black  feeds,  fhrivelled,  and  fimiiar  to  the  globules 
ot  the  llieep's  dung  flattened. 

As  I  poflefs  but  few  books  oii  Botany,  I  did  not  know 
of  what  country  the  martinia  was  a  native  ;  but  having 
lately  confulted.the  Work  oi  Linnaus,  I  find  that  we  got 
It  from  Vera  Cruz.  The  celebrated  Naturalifl,  whom  I 
havejuft  mentioned,  difcovers,  in  this  fhell,  no  refem- 
blance  but  that  of  a  woodcock's  head  ;  but  had  he  ever 
feen  the  hook  for  goJdneys,  he  could  not  pofTibiy  have 
hefitated  about  preferring  this  fimilitude,  in  the  appear- 
ance, in  as  much  as  the  extremity  of  this  pretended  beak 
bends  back  into  two  hooks,  which  prick  like  needles,  and 
^re,  as  well  as  the  whole  fhell,  and  the  tail,  by  which  it  is 
united  to  the  flem,  of  a  ligneous  and  horny  fubflance,  not 
eafi ly  broken  afunder.  John  dt  Laet  *  tells  us,  that  the 
land  of  Vera  Cruz  is  on  a  level  with  the  Sea,  and  that  its 
port,  called  St.  John  dt  Hulloa,  is  formed  by  a  fmall  if, 
land,  no  higher  than  the  water  ;  fo  that,  fays  he,  when  the 
tide  rifes  very  high,   the  land  wholly  difappears. 

Such  inundations  are  very  common  at  the  bottom  of  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  as  we  learn  from  the  relation  which  Dam^ 

♦  Hiaory  of  the  Wcllindics,  took  v.  chap.  18. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  2% 

fur  bas  given  us  of  the  Bay  of  Campechy,  which  is  in 
that  vicinity.  Hence  I  prefume,  that  the  martinia,  which 
grows  on  the  inundated  {hores  of  Vera  Cruz,  has  certain 
relations,  which  we  know  nothing  of,  to  the  fifhes  of  the 
Sea  ;  in  as  much  as  the  feeds  of  feveral  trees  and  plants 
of  thofe  countries,  defcribed  by  John  de  Laei,  poITefs  very 
curious  nautical  forms.  A  drawing  of  the  martinia,  tak- 
en from  Nature,  is  prefented  fronting  page  221  of  this 
Volume. 

But  there  is  no  occafion  to  refort  to  foreign  plants,  for 
afcertaining  the  exiftence  of  vegetable  relations  to  animal. 
The  bramb^e,  which  affords-,  in  every  field  through  which 
we  pafs,  a  fhelter  to  fo  many  birds,  has  its  prickles  formed 
into  hooks  ;  fo  that  it  not  only  prevents  the  cattle  from 
dillurbing  the  birds'  retirement,  but  frequently  lays  them 
under  contribution  for  a  flake  of  wool  or  hair,  proper  for 
finifhing  off  their  nefts,  as  a  reprifal  for  hoftility  commit- 
ted, and  an  indemnification  for  danjages  fuftained.  Pliny 
alleges,  that  this  gave  rife  to  the  pretended  animofity  be- 
tween the  linnet  and  the  afs.  This  quadruped,  whofe  pal- 
ate is  proof  againfl;  thorns,  frequently  browfes  on  the  fhrub 
in  which  the  linnet  builds  her  neft.  She  is  fo  terrifi- 
ed at  his  voice,  that  on  hearing  it,  fays  he,  fhe  kicks  down 
her  eggs ;  and  her  callow  brood  die  with  terror  of  it.  But 
{he  makes  war  upon  him,  in  hex  turn,  by  fixing  her  attack 
on  the  fcratches  made  in  his  hide  by  the  prickles,  and 
picking  the  flelh  in  thofe  tender  parts,  to  the  very  bone. 
It  muft  be  a  very  amufing  fpeftacle  to  view  the  combat 
between  the  little  and  melodious  fongfter,  and  the  dull, 
braying,  but  otherwife  inoffenfive,  animal. 

Did  we  know  the  animal  relations  of  placits,  we  fhould 
poffefs  fources  of  intelligence  refpefting  the  inftinfts  of 
the  brute  creation,  with  which  we  are  totally  unacquaint- 
ed. We  fhould  know  the  origin  of  their  friendfhips,  and 
of  their  animofities,  at  leafl  as  to  thoCe  which  are  formed 
in  fociety  ;  for  with  regard  to  fuch  as  are  innate,  I  do  not 
J)elieve  tl>at  the  caufe  of  them  \vas  ever  revealed  to  any 


jTo  A  VINDICATION  OF 

man.  Thefe  are  of  a  different  order,  and  belong  to  anoth- 
er world.  How  fliould  fo  many  animals  have  entered  in- 
to life,  under  the  dominion  of  hatred,  without  having  been 
offended  ;  furnifhed  with  fkill  and  induftry,  without  hav- 
ing ferved  an  apprenticefhip  ;  and  direfted  by  an  inftinft 
more  infallible  than  experience  ?  How  came  the  eleftri- 
cal  power  to  be  conferred  on  the  torpedo,  invifibility  on 
the-  cam^leon,  and  the  light  of  the  Itars  themfelves  on  a 
fly  ?  Who  taught  the  aquatic  bug  to  Aide  along  the  wha- 
lers, and  another  fpecies  of  the  fame  denomination  to  fwim 
upon  the  back  ;  both  the  one  and  the  other  for  catching 
their  prey,  which  hovers  along  the  furface  ?  The  water 
fpider  is  ftill  more  ingenious.  She  enclofes  a  bubble  of 
air  in  a  contexture  of  filaments,  takes  her  ftation  in  the 
middle,  and  plunges  to  the  bottom  of  the  brook,  where 
the  air  bubble  appears  like  a  globule  of  quickfilver. 
There,  ilie  expatiates  under  the  fliade  of  the  nymphaea, 
exempted  from  the  dread  of  every  foe.  If,  in  this  fpecies, 
two  individuals,  different  in  fex,  happen  to  meet,. and  to 
fuit  each  other,  the  two  globules,  being  in  a  ffate  of  ap- 
proximation, become  united  into  one,  and  the  two  infefts 
are  in  the  fame  atmofphere.  The  Romans,  who  conftruft- 
ed  on  the  (hores  of  Baias,  faloons  underneath  the  waves  of 
the  Sea,  in  order  to  enjoy  the  coolnefs,  and  the  murmur- 
in;T  noife  of  the  waters,  during  the  heats  of  Summer,  were 
lefs  dexterous,  and  lefs  voluptuous.  If  a  man  united  in 
himfclf  thofe  m.arvellous  faculties  which  are  the  portion 
of  infects,  he  would  pafs  for  a  god  with  his  fellow  crea- 
tures. 

It  is  of  importance  for  us  to  be  acquainted  with,  at  leaft, 
fuch  infers  as  deflroy  thofe  which  are  offenfive  to  Man. 
We  might  turn  their  mutual  hoflility  to  good  account, 
by  converting  it  into  the  means  of  our  own  repofe.  The 
fpider  catches  the  flies  in  nets  ;  the  formicaleo  furpnfes 
the  ants  in  a  tunnel  of  fand  ;  the  four,  winged  ichneumon 
feizes  the  butterflies  on  the  wing.  There  is  another  iclv, 
neumon,  fo  fmall  and  fo  cunning,  that  it  lays  an  egg  in  thq 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  g^, 

anus  of  the  vine  fretter.  Man  has  it  in  his  power  to  mul- 
tiply at  pleafure  the  families  of  infeds  which  are  ufeful 
to  him  ;  and  may  find  means  of  diminishing  fuch  as  make 
depredations  on  his  agricultural  poffefTions.  The  fmall 
birds  of  our  groves  tender  him,  to  the  fame  effea,  fervices 
of  ftill  greater  extent,  and  accompanied  with  other  cir- 
cum fiances  inexpreffibly  agreeable.  They  are  all  direft- 
ed  by  inftina  to  live  in  his  vicinity,  and  about  the  paf- 
tures  and  habitations  of  his  flocks  and  herds.  A  fingle 
fpecies  of  them  might  frequently  be  fufficient  to  proteft 
the  cattle  from  the  infefts  which  infeft  them  through  the 
Summer. 

There  is  in  the  North  a  gadfly,  called  Kourhma  by  the 
Laplanders,  and  by  the  Learned,  ajlrus  rangiferinus, 
which  torments  the  domeftic  reindeer  to  fuch  a  deo-ree  as 
to  force  them  in  agony  to  the  mountains,  and  fometimes 
aaually  plague  them  to  death,  by  depofiting  their  eggs  in 
the  fkin  of  the  animal.  Many  diflertations  have,  as  the 
cufl:om  is,  been  compofed  on  this  fubjea,  but  no  remedy 
for  the  evil  has  been  propofed.  I  am  convinced  there 
muft  be  birds  in  Lapland,  which  would  deliver  the  rein- 
deer from  this  formidable  inlea,  did  not  the  Laplanders 
terrify  them  away  by  the  noife  of  their  fowling  pieces. 
Thefe  arms  of  civilized  Nations  have  overfpread  with  bar- 
barifm  all  our  plains.  The  birds,  deftined  to  embellifli 
the  habitation  of  Man,  withdraw  from  it,  or  approach 
with  timidity  and  miftruft.  The  found  of  mufl^etry  ought 
to  be  prohibited,  at  leaft,  around  the  haunts  of  the  hann- 
lefs  cattle.  When  the  birds  are  not  feared  away  by  the 
fowler,  they  follow  their  inflinas. 

I  have  frequently  feen  in  the  Ifle  of  France,  a  fpecies 
of  ftarling,  called  martin,  imported  thither  from  India, 
perch  familiarly  on  the  back  and  horns  of  the  oxen,  to 
pick  them  clean.  To  this  bird  that  ifland  ftands  indebt- 
ed, at  the  prefcnt  day,  for  the  deflruaion  of  the  locufts, 
which,  in  former  times,  committed  fuch  ravages  upon  it. 
In  thofe  of  our  European  rural  fcenes  which  Hill  exhibit. 


fe^*  A  VINDICATION  OF 

©n  the  part  of  Man,  fome  degree  of  hofpitality  toward  tll« 
innocent  warblers,  he  has  the  pleafure  of  feeing  the  ftork 
build  her  neft  ©n  the  ridge  of  his  houfe  ;  the  fwallow  flut- 
ter about  in  his  apartments  :  And  the  wagtail,  along  the 
bank  of  the  river,  frifk  around  his  fheep,  to  proteft  them 
from  the  gnats. 

The  foundation  of  all  this  variety  of  pleafant  and  ufe- 
ful  knowledge  is  laid  in  the  fludy  of  plants.  Each  of 
them  is  the  focus  of  the  life  of  animals,  the  fpecies  of 
which  there  colle6l  in  a  point,  as  the  rays  of  a  circle  at 
their  centre. 

As  foon  as  the  Sun,  arrived  in  his  annual  progrefTion,  at 
the  fign  of  the  Ram,  has  given  the  fignal  of  Spring  to 
our  Hemifphcre,  the  rainy  and  warm  wind  of  the  South 
takes  its  departure  from  Africa,  fwells  the  Seas,  elevates 
the  rivers  above  their  banks,  fo  that  they  inundate  the 
adjacent  plains,  and  fatten  them  with  their  fertilizing 
flime  ;  and  levels,  in  the  forefts,  the  aged  trees,  the  decay- 
ed trunks,  and  every  thing  that  prefents  an  obffacle  to 
future  vegetation.  It  melts  the  fnows  which  cover  our 
fields,  and  forcing  its  way  to  the  very  Pole,  it  breaks  to 
pieces,  and  difTolves  the  enormous  malTes  of  ice  which 
Winter  had  there  accumulated.  When  this  revolution, 
known  all  over  the  Globe  by  the  name  of  the  equinoftial 
gale,  has  taken  place,  in  the  month  of  March,  the  Sun 
revolves  night  and  day  around  our  Pole,  fo  that  there  is 
not  a  finglc  point,  in  the  whole  northern  Hemifphere,  that 
can  efcapc  his  heat. 

Every  flep  he  advances  in  his  courfc  through  the  Heav- 
ens, a  new  plant  makes  its  appearance  on  the  Earth.  Each 
of  them  arifes  in  fuccelFion,  and  occupies  its  proper  fla- 
tion  at  the  hour  affigned  to  it ;  at  one  and  the  fame  inftant 
it  receives  the  light  in  its  flowers,  and  the  dew  of  Heaven 
on  its  foliage.  In  proportion  to  its  progrefs  in  growth, 
the  difTcTcnt  infeft  tribes  which  thence  derive  their  nour- 
ifhment,  likewife  difplay  their  exiflence,  and  uniold  their 
«hara6^rs.     At  this  epocha,  too,  each  fpecies  of  bird  re- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  273 

forts  to  the  fpecies  of  plant  with  which  fhe  is  acquainted, 
there  to  build  her  neft,  and  to  feed  her  yeung  with  the 
animal  prey  which  it  prefents  to  her,  to  fupply  the  want 
of  the  feeds  which  it  has  not  as  yet  produced.  We  pref- 
ently  behold  the  tribes  of  birds  of  pafTage  flock  thither, 
in  queft  of  the  portion  which  Nature  has  provided  for 
them  likewife.  Firft  comes  the  fwallow,  to  preferve  our 
habitations  from  the  vermin,  by  planting  her  neft  around 
us.  The  quail  forfakes  Africa,  and  grazing  the  billows 
of  the  Mediterranean,  and  in  troops  innumerable,  is  fcat- 
tered  over  the  boundlefs  meadows  of  the  Ukraine.  The 
heathcock  purfues  his  courfe  northw^ard  as  far  as  Lap- 
land. The  wild  ducks  and  geefe,  the  filvery  fwans,  form- 
ing long  triangular  fquadrons  in  the  air,  advance  to  the 
very  iflands  adjacent  to  the  Pole.  The  ftork,  in  former 
times  adored  in  Egypt,  which  fhe  abandons,  crofTes  over 
Europe,  halting  here  and  there  to  take  repofe,  even  in 
great  cities,  on  the  roofs  of  the  houfes  of  hofpitable  Ger- 
many. All  thefe  birds  feed  their  young  on  the  infefts 
and  reptiles  which  the  newly  expanded  plants  have  fofter- 
ed  into  life. 

Then,  too,  it  is  that  the  fiflies  iffue  in  legions,  from  the 
northern  abyfTes  of  the  Ocean,  allured  to  the  mouths  of 
rivers  by  clouds  of  infe61s,  which  are  confined  entirelv  to 
their  waters,  or  expand  into  life  along  their  banks.  Thev 
ftem  the  watery  current  in  fhoals,  and  advance,  fkipping 
and  fpringing,  up  to  the  very  fources  of  the  ftream  ;  oth- 
ers, as  the  northcapers,  fufFer  themfelves  to  be  fwept  into 
the  general  current  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and  appear,  in 
form  of  a  fhip's  bottom,  on  the  coafls  of  Brafil,  and  on 
thofe  of  Guinea. 

Quadrupeds  themfelves,  likewife,  then  undertake  long 
peregrinations.  Some  proceed  from  the  South  to  the 
North,  with  the  Sun  ;  others  from  Eall  to  Weft.  There 
are  fome  which  coaft  along  the  rugged  chains  of  moun- 
tains ;  others  follow  the  courfes  of  rivers  which  have 
never  been  navigated.     Lengthened  columns  of  black  cat- 

VOL.    II,  I.  I 


274  .  A  VINDICATION  of 

tie  pafture,  in  America,  along  the  banks  of  the  Mechaf- 
fipi,*  which  they  caufe  to  refound  with  their  bellowing* 
Numerous  fquadrons  of  horfes  traverfe  the  rivers  and  the 
deferts  of  Tartary  \  and  wild  fheep  ftray  bleating  amidft 
its  vafl  folitudes.  Thefe  flocks  have  neither  overfeer  nor 
fhephcrd  to  guide  them  through  the  defert,  to  the  mufic 
of  the  pipe  ;  but  the  expanfion  of  herbage  which  they 
know,  determines  the  moment  of  their  departure,  and  the 
limits  of  their  progrefs.  It  is  then  that  each  animal  inhab* 
its  his  natural  fituation,  and  repofes  under  the  fhade  of  the 
vegetable  of  his  fathers.  It  is  then  that  the  chains  of  har- 
mony exert  all  their  force,  and  that  all,  being  animated  by 
confonances,  or  by  contrails,  the  air,  the  waters,  the  for- 
efts,  and  the  rocks,  feem  to  be  vocal,  to  be  impaflioned, 
to  be  tranfported  with  delight. 

But  this  vaft  concert  can  be  comprehended  by  celeftial 
Intelligences  only.  To  Man  it  is  fufficient,  in  order  to 
ftudy  Nature  with  advantage,  that  he  limit  his  refearches 
to  the  ftudy  of  one  fingle  vegetable.  It  would  be  necef- 
fary,  for  this  purpofe,  to  make  choice  of  an  aged  tree,  in 
Ibme  folitary  fituation.  From  the  charafters  which  have 
been  indicated,  a  judgment  might  eafily  be  formed,  whether 
it  be  in  its  natural  pofition  ;  but  ftill  better  from  its  beau- 
ty, and  from  the  acccffories  which  Nature  uniformly  pla- 
ces in  connexion  with  it,  where  the  hand  of  Man  has  not 
interpofed  to  derange  the  operations.  The  fludent 
would  firfl  obfcrve  its  elementary  relations,  and  the  ftrik- 
ing  characters  which  diflinguifh  the  different  fpecies  of 
the  fame  genus,  fome  of  which  grow  at  the  fources  of  riv- 
ers, and  others  at  the  place  of  their  difcharge  into  the  O- 
cean.  He  would  afterwards  examine  its  convolvulufes, 
its  moffes,  its  miftletoes,  its  fcolopendrae,  the  mufhrooms 
of  its  roots,  nay,  the  very  grafles  which  grow  under  its 
ithddc.    He  would  perceive,  in  each  of  its  vegetables,  new 

*  Mlflirjppi, 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  ^j,^ 

elementary  relations,  adapted  to  the  places  which  they  oc- 
cupy, and  to  the  tree  which  fuflains,  or  fhelters  them. 

His  attention  might  next  be  direftcd  to  the  various  fpe- 
cies  of  animals  which  refort  to  it  as  a  habitation,  and  he 
would  prefently  be  convinced,  that,  from  the  fnail  up  to 
the  fquirrel,  there  is  not  a  fmgle  one,  but  what  has  deter- 
minate and  charafteriflic  relations  to  the  dependencies  ©f 
its  vegetation. 

If  the  tree  In  queftlon  were  growing  in  a  foreft,  itfelf 
too  of  confiderable  antiquity,  it  would,  moft  probably, 
have,  in  its  vicinity,  the  tree  which  Nature  defigned 
Ihould  contrail  with  it  in  the  fame  fite,  as,  for  example, 
the  birch  with  the  fir.  It  is  farther  probable,  that  the  ac- 
ceflbry  vegetables  and  animals  of  this  laft,  would,  in  like 
manner,  form  a  contrail  with  thofe  of  the  firft.  Thefe 
two  fpheres  of  obfervation  would  mutually  illuminate 
€ach  other,  and  would  difFufe  the  cleareft  light  over  the 
manners  of  the  animals  which  frequent  them.  We  fhould 
then  have  a  complete  chapter  of  that  immenfe  and  fublime 
Hiflory  of  Nature,  the  alphabet  of  which  is  hitherto  un- 
known to  us. 

I  am  fully  convinced,  that  without  fatigue,  and  almoft 
without  any  trouble,  difcoveries  the  moft  curious  mio-ht 
be  made  ;  were  we  to  reftrift  our  enquiries  but  to  one 
fmgle  compartiment,  we  fhould  difcover  a  multitude  of 
the  moft  enchanting  harmonies.  In  order  to  enjoy  fome 
imperfeft  fketches  of  this  kind,  we  muft  have  recourfe  to 
travellers.  Our  Ornithologifts,  fettered  by  methods  and 
fyftem,  only  think  of  fwelling  their  catalogue,  and  diftin- 
guifh  nothing  in  birds  fave  the  feet  and  the  bill.  It  is  not 
in  the  nefts  that  they  obferve  them,  but  in  hunting,  and 
in  their  pouch.  They  even  confider  the  colours  of  their 
plumage  as  accidents.  It  was  not  by  chance,  however, 
that  Nature,  on  the  fliores  of  Brafil,  beftowed  a  beauti- 
ful carnation  colour,  with  a  border  of  black,  on  the  ex- 
tremity of  the  wings  of  the  Ouara,  a  fpecies  of  curlew, 
which  inhabits  the   fea  green   foliage   of  the  paktwicr^ 


%ye  A  VINDICATION  OF 

which  grows  in  the  bofom  of  the  waves,  and  bears  no  ap- 
parent flowers.  The  favia,  another  bird  of  the  fame  cli- 
mate, is  yellow  over  the  belly,  with  the  reft  of  the  plum- 
age gray.  It  is  about  the  fize  of  a  fparrow,  and  perches 
on  the  pepper  plant,  the  flowers  of  which  have  no  luftre, 
but  whofe  grains  are  eaten  by  this  bird,  and  refown  wher- 
ever Ihe  takes  her  flight. 

To  thofe  correfpondencies  muft  be  joined  fuch  as  per- 
tain to  fite,  which  itfelf  derives  fo  much  beauty  from  the 
overfhadowing  vegetable.  Thefe  harmonies  are  detailed 
by  Fatl^ier  Francis  d' Abbeville.  If  credit  is  to  be  given 
to  the  Hiftory  of  voyages  by  the  Abbe  Prevojl,  there  is, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Senegal,  a  fluviatic  tree,  the  leaves  of 
which  arc  thorny,  and  the  branches  pendant,  in  form  of  an 
arch.  It  ferves  as  a  habitation  to  birds  called  kurbalos, 
or  fifliers,  of  the  fize  of  a  fparrow,  varioufly  coloured. 
Their  bill  is  very  long,  and  armed  with  little  teeth,  re- 
femblincr  a  faw.  They  build  a  neft  of  the  bulk  of  a  pear, 
compofed  of  earth,  feathers,  ftraw,  mofs,  and  attach  it  to 
a  long  thread,  fufpended  from  the  extremity  of  the  branch- 
es which  projeft  over  the  river,  in  order  to  fecure  it  from 
the  ferpents  and  monkeys,  which  fometimes  contrive  to 
clamber  up  after  them.  You  would  take  thofe  nefts,  at  a 
little  diftance,  for  the  fruit  of  the  tree  :  And  fome  of  thofe 
trees  contain  to  the  number  of  a  thoufand.  You  perceive 
the  kurbalos  fluttering  incelTantly  along  the  water,  and 
entering  into  their  nefts  with  a  motion  that  dazzles  the 
eyes. 

According  to  Father  Charlevoix,  there  grows  in  Virgin- 
ia, on  the  brink  of  the  lakes,  a  laurel  leafed  yew  tree^ 
which  pufhes  feveral  ftems  from  its  root,  the  branches  of 
which  embrace  all  the  furrounding  trees,  and  climb  to  the 
licight  of  more  than  fixteen  feet.  They  form,  in  Summer, 
an  impenetrable  fliade,  and  in  Winter  a  temperate  retreat 
for  the  birds.  Its  flowers  have  no  very  ftriking  appear- 
ance, and  its  fruit  grows  in  round  clufters,  loaded  with 
^lack  grains.     This  yew  has  for  its  principal  inhabitant,, 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  277 

a  very  beautiful  kind  of  jay.  The  head  of  that  bird  is 
adorned  with  a  long  black  creft,  which  it  can  eretl  at 
pleafure.  Its  back  is  of  a  deep  purple.  The  wings  are 
black  on  the  infide,  blue  externally,  and  white  at  the  ex- 
tremities, with  white  llripes  acrofs  every  feather.  Its  tail 
is  blue,  and  marked  with  the  fame  llripes  as  the  wings ; 
and  its  cry  is  far  from  being  difagreeable. 

There  are  birds  which  lodge  not  upon  their  favourite 
plant,  but  oppofite  to  it.  Such  is  the  colibri,  which  fre- 
quently nellies,  in  the  Antilles  Iflands,  on  the  flraw  which 
thatches  a  cottage,  in  order  to  live  under  the  proteftion  of 
Man.  In  our  climates,  the  nightingale  conflrufts  his  nelt 
under  covert  of  a  bufh,  choofing,  in  preference,  fuch  fit- 
uations  as  repeat  an  echo,  and  carefully  obferving  to  ex- 
pofe  it  to  the  morning  fun.  Having  employed  fuch  pre- 
cautions, he  takes  his  ftation  in  the  vicinity,  againft  the 
trunk  of  a  tree ;  and  there,  confounded  with  the  colour 
of  its  bark,  and  motionlefs,  he  becomes  invifible.  But 
he  prefently  animates  the  obfcure  retreat  whic^  he  has 
chofen,  by  the  divine  melody  of  his  fong,  and  effaces  all 
the  brilliancy  of  plumage,  by  the  charms  of  his  mulic. 

But  whatever  enchantment  may  be  difFufed  by  plants 
and  animals  over  the  fituations  which  have  been  affigned 
to  them  by  Nature,  I  never  can  confider  a  landfcape  as 
poffefTing  all  its  beauty,  unlefs  I  perceive  in  it,  at  leaft, 
one  little  hut.  The  habitation  of  Man  confers,  on  every 
fpecies  of  vegetable,  anew  degree  of  intereft  or  of  maj- 
eft}^  Nothing  more  is  necelTary,  in  many  cafes,  than  a 
tree,  in  order  to  ch^rafterize,  in  a  country,  the  wants  of  a 
whole  Nation,  and  the  care  of  Providence.  I  love  to  fee 
the  family  of  an  Arab  under  the  date  tree  of  the  defert,  and 
the  boat  of  an  iflanderof  the  Maldivias  loaded  with  cocoa 
nuts,  under  the  cocoa  trees  of  their  gravelly  flrands.  The 
hovel  of  a  poor  uninduflrious  Negro  gives  me  pleafure, 
under  the  fhade  of  a  great  gourd  plant,  which  exhibits  his 
complete  fet  of  houfehoid  furniture.  Our  magnificent 
hotels,  in  great  cities,   arq  the  habitations  of  tradefmen 


27$  A  VINDICATION  of 

merely  :  In  the  country,  they  are  transformed  into  caftles, 
palaces,  temples.  The  long  avenues  which  announce 
them  confound  themfelves  with  thofe  which  form  the 
communication  of  empires.  This  is  not,  in  truth,  what  I 
confider  as  moll  interefting  in  rural  fcenery.  To  the  moft 
oflentatious  exhibition  of  fplendor,  I  have  frequently  pre- 
ferred the  view  of  a  little  hamlet  of  filhermen,  built  by 
the  fide  of  a  river.  With  inexpreffible  delight  have  I 
fometimes  repofed,  under  the  fhade  of  the  willows,  and  of 
the  poplars,  on  which  were  fufpended  the  bow  nets,  com- 
pofed  of  their  own  branches. 

1  ihall  now  proceed,  in  my  ufual  fuperficial  manner, 
to  take  a  rapid  glance  of  the  harmonies  of  plants  with 
Man  ;  and,  in  order  to  introduce,  at  leaft,  fomething  of 
order  into  a  fubje6l  fo  rich  in  matter,  I  fliall  farther  di- 
vide thofe  harmonies,  relatively  to  Man  himfelf,  into  ek~ 
meiitary,  into  vegetable^  into  am?nal  and  into  kumafiy  prop* 
crly  fo  called,  or  alimentary. 


HUMAN  HARMONIES  OF  PLANTS. 


^.lemcntary  Harinonies  of  Plants  relatively  to  Man, 


If  we  confider  the  vegetable  Order  under  the  fimple 
relations  of  flrength  and  magnitude,  we  fhall  find  it  di- 
vided, with  a  fulhcicnt  degree  of  generality,  into  three 
great  claffcs,  namely,  into  herbs,  into  flirubs  and  into 
trees.  It  is  to  be  remarked,  in  the  firft  place,  that  herbs 
are  of  a  fubllance  pliant  and  foft.  Had  they  been  ligne- 
ous and  hard,  like  the  young  boughs  of  trees,  to  which  it 
might  appear  they  ought  naturally  to  have  a  refemblance, 
as  they  grow  on  the  fame  foil ;  the  greateft  part  of  the 
Earth   M-ouitl  have  been  inaccsflibic  to  the   foot  of  Ma,n,, 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  279 

till  the  fire,  or  the  hatchet,  had  cleared  the  way  for  him. 
It  was  not  by  chance,  therefore,  that  fo  many  graffes, 
moffes  and  herbs,  afTumed  a  foft  and  yielding  texture,  nor 
from  want  of  nourifhment,  nor  of  the  means  of  expan- 
fion  ;  for  fome  of  thofe  herbs  rife  to  a  very  great  height, 
fuch  as  the  banana  ot  India,  and  feveral  ferulaceous  plants 
of  our  own  climates,  which  attain  the  ftature  of  a  little 
tree. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  ligneous  Ihrubs,  which  do 
not  exceed  the  generality  of  herbs  in  height;  but  they 
grow,  for  the  moll  part,  on  rugged  and  fleep  places,  af- 
fording to  Man  the  means  of  clambering  up  with  facility, 
for  they  fhoot  out  of  the  very  clefts  of  the  rocks.  But 
as  there  are  rocks  which  have  no  clefts,  and  which  pre- 
fent  the  perpendicularity  of  a  wall,  there  are  likewife 
creeping  plants  which  take  root  at  their  bafes,  and  which, 
fixing  themfelves  to  their  fides,  rife  in  clofe  cohefion  to 
a  height  furpafling  that  of  many  of  the  tallefl  trees :  Such 
are  the  ivy,  the  virgin  vine,  and  a  great  number  of  the 
lianne  tribe,  which  mantle  along  the  rocks  of  fouthern  re- 
gions. 

Were  the  Earth  covered  with  vegetables  of  this  fort, 
it  would  be  impoflible  to  walk  over  it.  It  is  very  remark- 
able, that  when  uninhabited  iflands  were  difcovered,  fome 
were  found  clothed  with  forells,  as  the  Ifland  of  Madeira; 
others  in  which  there  was  nothing  but  herbage  and  rufties, 
as  the  Malouine  Iflands,  at  the  entrance  of  Magellan's 
Strait ;  others  carpeted  with  moffes  fimply,  fuch  as  fev- 
eral little  ifles  on  the  coaft  of  Spitzbergen  ;  others,  in 
great  number,  on  which  thefe  feveral  vegetables  were 
blended ;  but  I  do  not  know  of  a  fmgle  one  which  was 
found  to  contain  only  flirubbery  and  liannes.  Nature  has 
placed  this  clafs  only  on  places  not  eafily  to  be  fcaled,  in 
order  to  facilitate  accefs  to  Man.  It  may  be  affirmed, 
that  no  precipice  prefents  a  furface  fo  perpendicular  as 
to  be  infurmountable,  with  their  affiftance.     Thus  aided, 


fita  A  VINDICATION  OF 

the  ancient   Gauls  were  on  the  point  of    florming    tli^ 
capitol. 

As  to  trees,  though  tliey  are  replenifhed  with  a  vegeta- 
tive force,  which  elevates  them  to  a  very  confiderable 
height,  the  greater  part  of  them  do  not  fend  out  their  firft 
branches  but  at  a  certain  diftance  from  the  ground.  So 
that  though  they  form,  when  they  have  attained  a  certain 
degree  of  elevation,  an  intertexture  impenetrable  to  the 
Sun,  which  they  extend  to  a  great  diftance  around,  they 
leave,  however,  about  their  roots,  avenues  fufficient  to 
render  them  accefhble,  fo  that  the  forefts  may  be  traverf- 
cd  with  cafe  and  expedition. 

Such,  then,  are  the  general  difpofitions  of  vegetables 
upon  the  Earth,  relatively  to  the  occafion  which  Man  had 
to  range  over  it.  The  herbage  ferves  as  a  carpet  to  his 
feet ;  the  fhrubbery  as  a  fcaling  ladder  to  his  hands  ;  and 
the  trees  are  as  fo  many  parafols  over  his  head.  Nature, 
after  having  eftabliflied  thofe  proportions  between  them, 
has  diftributed  them  in  all  the  varieties  of  fituation,  by 
beftowing  on  them,  abftraftedly  from  their  particular  re- 
lations to  the  elements,  and  to  the  animal  creation,  quali- 
ties the  beft  adapted  to  minifter  to  the  neceftities  of  Man, 
and  to  compcnfate,  in  his  favour,  the  inconveniences  of 
climate. 

Though  this  manner  of  ftudying  her  Works  be  now 
held  in  contempt  by  moft  Naturalifts,  to  it,  however, 
fliall  our  reCearchcs  be  limited.  We  have  juft  been  con- 
fidcring  plants  according  to  their  fhape  and  fizc,  after  the 
manner  oi  gardeners ;  we  proceed  farther  to  examine  them 
as  is  done  by  the  wood  feller,  the  huntfman,  the  carpen- 
ter, the  fiflicrman,  the  fiieplierd,  the  failor,  nay,  the  nofe- 
gay  maker.  It  is  of  fmall  importance  whether  we  are 
learned,  provided  we  ceafe  not  to  be  men. 

It  is  in  the  countries  of  the  North,  and  on  ihc  fummit 
of  cold  mountains,  that  the  pine  grows,  and  the  fir,  and 
the  cedar,  and  moft  part  of  r'-'finous  trees,  which  fhelter 
man  from  the  fnows  by  ihc  clofencfs  of  their  foliage,  and 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  281 

vrhich  furnlfh  him,  during  the  Winter  feafon,  with  torches 
and  fuel  for  his  fire  fide.  It  is  very  remarkable,  that  the 
leaves  of  thofe  evergreen  trees  are  filiform,  and  extremely 
adapted,  by  this  configuration,  which  poffeffes  the  farther 
advantage  of  reverberating  the  heat,  like  the  hair  of  ani- 
mals, for  refinance  to  the  impetuofity  of  the  winds,  that 
beat  with  peculiar  violence  on  elevated  fituations.  The 
Swedifli  Naturalifls  have  obferved,  that  the  fatteft  pines 
are  to  be  found  on  the  dryeft  and  moll  fandy  regions  of 
Norway.  The  larch,  which  takes  equal  pleafure  in  the 
cold  mountains,  has  a  very  refinous  trunk. 

Mathiola,  in  his  ufeful  commentary  on  Diofcorides,  in- 
forms us,  that  there  is  no  fubftance  more  proper  than  the 
charcoal  of  thefe  trees,  for  promptly  melting  the  iron  min~ 
erals,   in  the  vicinity  of  which   they    peculiarly  thrive. 
They   are,  befides,  loaded  with  moffes   fome  fpecies  of 
which  catch  fire  from  the  llighteft   fpark.     He  relates, 
that  being  obliged,  on  a  certain  occafion,  to  pafs  the  night 
in  the  lofty  mountains  of  the  Strait  of  Trento,  where  he 
was  botanizing,  he  found  there  a  great  quantity  of  larches 
[larixj  bearded  all  over,  to  ufe  his   own  expreflion,  and 
completely  whitened  with  mofs.     The  ftiepherds  of  the 
place,  willing  to  amufe  him,  fet  fire  to  the  moffes  of  fome 
of  thofe  trees,  which  was  immediately  communicated  with 
the  rapidity  of  gunpowder  touched  with  the  match.     A- 
midft  the  obfcurity  of  the  night,  the  flame  and  the  fparks 
feemed  to  afcend  up  to  the  very  Heavens.     They  difFufed, 
as  they  burnt,  a  very  agreeable  perfume.     He  farther  re- 
marks, that  the  befl  agaricum  grows  upon  the  larch,  and 
that  the  arquebufiers  of  his  time  made  ufe  of  it  for  keep- 
ing up  fire,  and  for  making  matches.     Thus  Nature,  in 
crowning  the  fummit  of  cold  and  ferruginous  mountains 
with  thofe  vaft  vegetable  torches  has  placed  the  match  in 
their  branches,  the  tinder  at   their  foot,  and  the  fteel  at 
their  roots. 

To  the  South,  on  the   contrary,  trees  prefent,  in  their 
foliage,  fans,  umbrellas,  parafols.      The  latanier  carries 

VOL.     II.  M   ni 


2^^  A  VLXDICATION  of 

each  of  its  leaves  plaited  as  a  fan,  attached  to  a  long  tarJ, 
and  fimilar,  wlien  completely  difplayed,  to  a  radiating  Sun 
of  verdure.  Two  of  thofe  trees  are  to  be  feen  in  the 
Royal  Garden.  The  leaf  of  the  banana  refembles  a  long 
and  broad  girdle,  which,  undoubtedly,  procured  for  it  the 
name  of  Adam's  fig  tree.  The  magnitude  of  the  leaves  of 
feveral  fpecies  of  trees  incrcafes  in  proportion  as  we  ap- 
proach the  Line.  That  of  the  cocoa  tree,  with  double 
fruit,  of  the  Scchelles  Iflands,  is  from  twelve  to  fifteen 
feet  long,  and  from  feven  to  eight  broad.  A  fingle  one  is 
fufficient  to  cover  a  numerous  family.  One  of  thofe 
leaves  is,  likewife,  to  be  feen  in  the  Royal  Cabinet  of 
Natural  Hiflory.  That  of  tke  talipot  of  the  Ifland  of  Cey- 
lon is  of  nearly  the  fame  fize. 

The  interefling  and  unfortunate  Robert  Knox^  who  has 
given  the  bed  account  of  Ceylon  which  I  am  acquainted 
with,  tells  us,  that  one  of  the  leaves  of  the  talipot  is  ca- 
pable of  covering  from  fifteen  to  twenty  perfons.  When 
it  is  dry,  continues  he,  it  is  at  once  ftrong  and  pliant,  fo 
that  you  may  fold  and  unfold  it  at  pleafure,  being  natural- 
ly plaited  like  a  fan.  In  this  ftate  it  is  not  bigger  than  a 
man's  arm,  and  extremely  light.  The  natives  cut  it  into 
triangles,  though  it  is  naturally  round,  and  each  of  them 
carries  one  of  thofe  fc8ions  over  his  head,  holding  the  an- 
gular part  before,  in  his  hand,  to  open  for  himfelf  a  paf- 
fage  through  the  bufhes.  The  foldiers  employ  this  leaf  as 
a  covering  to  their  tents.  He  confiders  it,  and  with  good 
reafon,  as  one  of  the  greateft  blefTings  of  Providence,  in  a 
country  burnt  up  by  the  Sun,  and  inundated  by  the  rains, 
for  fix  months  of  the  year. 

Nature  has  provided,  in  thofe  elimates,  parafols  for 
whole  villages  :  for  the  fig  tree,  denominated,  in  India» 
the  fig  tree  of  the  Banians,  a  drawing  of  which  may  be 
feen  in  Taufrmcr^  and  in  feveral  other  travellers,  grows 
on  the  very  burning  fand  of  the  fea  fliore,  throwing, 
from  the  extremity  of  its  branches,  a  multitude  of  flioots, 
which  drop   to  the  ground,  there  take  root,  and  form,  a- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  ,a^3 

lound  the  principal  trunk,  a  great  number  of  covered  ar- 
cades, whofe  fhade  is  impervious  to  the  rays  of  the  Sun. 

In  our  temperate  climates,  we  experience  a  fimilar  be- 
nevolence on  the  part  of  Nature.  In  the  warm  and  thirf- 
ty  feafon,  fhe  beftows  upon  us  a  variety  of  fruits,  replen- 
ifhed  with  the  moil  refrefhing  juices,  fuch  as  cherries, 
peaches,  melons  ;  and,  as  Winter  approaches,  thofe  which 
-w^arm  and  comfort  by  their  oils,  fuch  as  the  almond  and 
the  walnut.  Certain  Naturalifls  have  confidered  even  the 
ligneous  fhells  of  thefe  fruits,  as  a  prefervative  againft  the 
cold  of  the  gloomy  feafon  ;  but  thefe  are,  as  we  have  feen, 
the  means  of  floating  and  of  navigating.  Nature  employs 
others,  with  which  we  are  not  acquainted,  for  preferving 
the  fubflances  of  fruits,  from  the  impreflions  of  the  air. 
For  example,  (he  preferves,  through  the  whole  Winter, 
many  fpecies  of  apples  and  pears,  which  have  no  other 
covering  than  a  pellicle  fo  very  thin,  that  it  is  impoflible 
to  determine  how  fine  it  is. 

Nature  has  placed  other  vegetables  in  humid  and  in  dry 
fituations,  the  qualities  of  w^hich  are  inexplicable  on  the 
principles  of  our  Phyfics,  but  which  admirably  harmo- 
nize with  the  neceffities  of  the  men  who  inhabit  thofe 
places.  Along  the  water  iide  grow  the  plants  and  the 
trees  which  are  the  dryeft,  the  lighteft,  and,  confequently, 
the  beft  adapted  to  the  purpofe  of  eroding  the  flream. 
Such  are  reeds,  which  are  hollow,  and  ruflies,  which  are 
filled  with  an  inflammable  marrow.  It  requires  but  a 
very  moderate  bunxlle  of  ruflies  to  bear  the  weight  of  a 
very  heavy  man  upon  the  water.  On  the  banks  of  the 
lakes  of  the  North  are  produced  thofe  enormous  birch 
trees,  the  bark  of  a  fingle  one  of  which  is  fufficient  to 
form  a  large  canoe.  This  bark  is  fimilar  to  leather  in 
pliancy,  and  fo  incorruptible  by  humidity,  that,  in  RufTia, 
1  have  feen  feme  of  it  extrafted  from  under  the  earth 
which  covered  powder  magazines,  perfeftly  found,  though 
it  had  lain  there  from  the  time  of  Pettr  the  Great, 


2^4  A  VINDICATION  of 

If  we  may  depend  on  the  teftimony  of  Pliny  and  of 
Plutarch,  there  were  found  at  Rome,  four  hundred  years 
after  the  death  of  Nmna,  the  books  which  that  great  King 
had  commanded  to  be  depofited  with  his  body  in  the  tomb. 
The  body  was  entirely  confumed  ;  but  the  books,  which 
treated  of  Philofophy  and  Religion,  were  in  fuch  a  ftate 
of  prefervation,  that  Petilius,  the  Pretor,  undertook  to 
read  them,  by  command  of  the  Senate.  On  the  report 
which  he  made  refpefting  their  contents,  they  were  order- 
ed to  be  burnt.  They  were  written  on  the  bark  of  the 
birch  tree.  This  bark  confifts  of  an  accumulation  often 
or  twelve  flieets,  white  and  thin,  like  paper,  the  place  of 
which  it  fupplied  to  the  ancients. 

Nature  prefents  to  Man  different  traje6liles  on  differ- 
ent fhores.  She  has  planted,  on  the  banks  of  the  riv- 
ers of  India,  the  bamboo,  an  enormous  reed,  which. rifes 
there  fometimes  to  the  height  of  fixty  feet,  and  fwells  to 
the  fizeofa  man's  thigh.  The  part  comprehended  be- 
tween two  of  its  joints  is  fufficient  to  bear  a  man  up  on 
the  water.  The  Indian  places  himfelf  upon  it  a  ftraddle, 
and  fo  crojfTes  a  river,  fwimming  along  by  the  motion  of 
his  feet.  The  Dutch  Navigator,  John  Hugo  de  Linfchot^ 
ten,  an  author  of  reputation,  affures  us  that  the  crocodile 
never  touches  perfons  who  are  paffing  rivers  in  this  man- 
ner, though  he  frequently  attacks  canoes,  and  even  the 
boats  of  Europeans.  Linfchoiten  afcribes  the  abftinence 
of  this  voracious  animal  to  an  antipathy  which  he  has  to 
that  fpecies  of  reed. 

Francis  Pyrard,  another  traveller,  who  has  obferved 
Natm-e  with  a  careful  eye,  informs  us,  that  there  grows, 
on  the  fhores  of  the  Maldivia  Iflands,  a  tree  called  candou^ 
the  wood  of  which  is  fo  light,  that  it  ferves  as  cork  for 
the  fifhermcn.*  I  think  I  was  once  poffeffed  of  a  log  of 
wood  of  that  fpecies.  It  was  ftripped  of  the  bark,  per- 
feftly  white,  of  the  thickncfs  of  my  arm,  about  fix  feet 

•  See  P)rard'$  Voyage  to  the  Maldivia  Ifljads,  pagr  38. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  ^85 

long,  and  fo  light,  that  I  could  eafily  lift  it  by  my  finger 
and  thumb.  In  thefe  fameiflands,  and  on  the  fame  flrands, 
rifes  the  cocoa  tree,  which  there  attains  a  higher  degree 
of  beauty  than  any  where  elfe  in  the  World.  Thus,  the 
tree  of  all  others  moil  ufeful  to  mariners,  grows  on  the 
fliores  of  the  Seas  moft  frequented  by  men  of  that  defcrip- 
tion.  All  the  world  knows  that  the  veirel  is  there  con- 
ftrufted  of  its  timber,  that  its  leaves  are  formed  into  fails, 
that  the  trunk  ferves  for  a  maft,  that  the  hempen  fubflance 
called  caira^  which  furrounds  its  fruit,  is  wro'hight  into 
cordage,  and  when  the  whole  ts  ready  for  fea,  a  cargo  of 
cocoa  nuts  is  the  lading.  It  is  farther  remarkable,  that 
the  cocoa  nut,  before  it  comes  to  perfe61:  mdturity,  con- 
tains a  liquor  which  is  an  excellent  antifcorbutic. 

Is  it  not,  then,  a  miracle  of  Nature,  that  this  fruit,  re- 
pleniflied  with  fucli  milk,  fliould  come  to  perfeclion  on 
the  barren  flrand,  and  within  the  wafhirig  of  the  briny 
Deep  ?  Nay,  it  is  only  on  the  brink  of  the  Sea,  that  the 
tree  which  bears  it  arrives  at  its  highefl  beauty ;  for  few 
are  to  be  feen  in  the  interior  of  countries. 

Nature  has  placed  a  palm  tree  of  the  fame  famiily,  but 
of  a  different  fpecies,  on  the  fummit  of  the  mountains  of 
the  fame  climates  :  It  is  the  palmift.  The  ftem  of  this 
tree  is  fometimes  above  a  hundred  feet  high,  is  pcrfeclly 
flraight,  and  bears  on  its  fummit,  all  the  foliage  which  it 
has,  a  bunch  of  palms,  from  the  midft  of  which  ilfues  a 
long  roll  of  plaited  leaves,  refembling  the  ftaff  of  a  lance. 
This  roil  contains,  in  a  fort  of  coriaceous  fheath,  leaves 
ready  to  fhoot,  which  are  very  good  eating  before  their 
expanfion.  The  trunk  of  the  palmift  is  woody  only  at 
the  circumference,  and  it  is  fohard  as  to  refill  the  edge  of 
the  beft  tempered  hatchet.  It  m.ay  be  cleft,  with  the  irt- 
moft  cafe,  from  end  to  end,  and  is  filled,  inwardly,  with  a 
fpongy  fubflance,  which  may  be  eafily  feparated.  Thus 
prepared,  it  ferves  to  form,  for  conducing  waters,  fre- 
quently diverted  from  their  courfe  by  the  rocks  which  are 
at  the  fummit  of  mountains,  tubes  which  are  not  corrupt- 


286  A  VINDICATION  of 

ible  by  humidity.  Thus  the  palm  tree  gives  to  the  in- 
habitants  ot  thofe  regions  the  means  of  conftrufting  aque- 
du6h  at  the  fource  of  rivers,  and  fhips  at  tlie  place  of 
their  difcharge. 

Other  fpecies  of  trees  render  them  the  fame  fervices, 
in  other  fituations.  On  the  fliores  of  the  Antilles  Iflands 
grows  the  acajou,  there  called,  but  improperly,  the  cedar, 
on  account  of  its  incorruptibility.  It  arrives  at  fuch  a 
prodigious  fize,  that  out  of  one  log  of  it  they  make  a  boat 
capable  of  carrying  fo  many  as  forty  men.*  This  tree 
pofTcfTes  another  quality,  which,  in  the  judgment  of  the 
beft  obfervcrs,  ought  to  render  it  invaluable  for  the  ma- 
rine fervice;  namely  this,  that  it  is  the  only  one,  of  thofe 
ihr  '^s,  which  is  never  attacked  by  the  fea  worm,  an  in- 
fetl  io  ^"rmidable  to  every  other  fpecies  of  timber  which 
floats  v\  .hofe  feas,  that  it  devours  whole  fquadrons  in  a 
very  little  time,  and,  in  order  to  preferve  them,  lays  us 
under  the  neceffity,  thefe  many  years  pall,  of  fheathing 
their  bottoms  with  copper.  But  this  beautiful  tree  has 
found  enemies  more  dreadful  than  the  worm,  in  the  Eu- 
ropean inhabitants  of  thofe  Iflands,  who  have  almoft  ex- 
tirpated the  whole  race  of  them. 

The  manner  in  which  Providence  has  contrived  a  fup- 
ply  for  the  thirft  of  Man,  in  fultry  places,  is  no  lefs  w^or- 
thy  of  admiration.  Nature  has  placed,  amidfl  the  burn- 
incT  fands  of  Africa,  a  plant  whofe  leaf,  twilled  round  like 
a  cruet,  is  always  filled  with  a  large  glafs  full  of  freflr  wa- 
ter; the  gullet  of  this  cruet  is  fhut  by  the  extremity  of 
the  leaf  itfelf,  fo  as  to  prevent  the  water  from  evaporat- 
ing. She  has  planted  on  fome  parched  dillrifts  of  the 
fame  country,  a  great  tree,  called  by  the  Negroes  Boa, 
the  trunk  of  which,  of  a  prodigious  bulk,  is  naturally 
hollowed  like  a  ciftern.  In  the  rainy  feafon  it  receives 
its  fill  of  water,  which  continues  frelh  and  cool,  in  the 
grcatefl:  heats,  by  means  of  the  tufted  foliage  which  crov;ns 

*  Conluk  Fathers  Laht  and  Du  Tcrtre. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  287 

its  fummit.  Finally,  fhe  has  placed  vegetable  fountains 
on  the  parched  rocks  of  the  Antilles.  There  is  common- 
ly found  there  a  lianne,  called  the  water  lianne,  fo  full  of 
fap,  that  if  you  cut  a  fingle  branch  of  it,  as  much  water 
is  immediately  difcharged  as  a  man  can  drink  at  a  draught : 
It  is  perfectly  pure  and  limpid. 

In  the  fwamps  of  the  Bay  of  Campeachy,  travellers 
find  relief  of  another  kind.  Thofe  fwamps,  on  a  level 
with  the  Sea,  are  almoft  entirely  inundated  in  the  rainy 
feafon,  and  became  fo  parched  on  the  return  of  dry  weath- 
er, that  many  huntfmen  who  had  happened  to  mifs  their 
way  in  the  forefts,  with  which  they  are  covered,  aftually 
perifhed  with  thirft.  The  celebrated  traveller  Dampier 
relates,  that  he  feveral  times  efcaped  this  calamity,  by 
means  of  a  very  extraordinary  fpecies  of  vegetation,  which 
had  been  pointed  out  to  him  on  the  trunk  of  a  kind  of 
pine  very  common  there;  it  refembles  a  packet  of  leaves, 
piled  one  over  another  in  tiers ;  and  on  account  of  its 
form,  and  of  the  tree  on  which  it  grows,  he  calls  it  the 
pine  apple.  This  apple  is  full  of  water,  fo  that  on  pierc- 
ing it  at  the  bafis  with  a  knife,  there  immediately  flows 
from  it  a  good  pint  of  very  clear  and  wholefome  water. 
Father  da  Terire  informs  us,  that  he  has  feveral  times 
found  a  fimilar  refrefhment  in  the  leaves,  rounded  like  a 
cornet,  of  a  fpecies  of  balizier,  which  grows  on  the  fan- 
dy  plains  of  Guadaloupe.  I  have  been  alfured  by  many 
of  our  fportfmen,  that  nothing  was  more  proper  for  the 
quenching  of  thirft  than  the  leaves  ot  the  miftletoe,  which 
grows  on  many  trees. 

Such  are,  in  part,  the  precautions  employed  by  Provi- 
dence for  compenfating,  in  favour  of  Man,  the  inconve- 
niencies  of  every  climate;  by  oppofing  to  the  qualities 
of  the  elements,  contrary  qualities  in  vegetables.  I  fhall 
purfue  them  no  farther,  for  I  believe  the  fubje£l  to  be  in- 
exhauftible.  I  am  perfuaded,  that  every  Latitude,  and 
evcf)^  feafon,  has  its  own,  which  are   ap-propriated  to  it. 


288  A  VINDICATION  of 

and  that  every  parallel   varies  them   in  every   degree  of 
Longitude. 


Vegetable  Harmonies  oj  Plants  with  Man. 


V/ere  we  now  to  examine  the  vegetable  relations  of 
plants  to  Man,  we  Ihould  find  them  to  be  infinite  in  num- 
ber ;  they  are  the  perpetual  fources  of  our  arts,  of  our  man- 
ufa61ures,  of  our  commerce,  and  of  our  enjoyments  ;  but,  in 
our  ufual  way,  we  fhall  juft  run  over  a  few  of  their  nat- 
ural and  direft  relations,  with  which  Man  has  interming- 
led nothing  ot  his  own. 

To  begin  with  their  perfumes,  Man  appears  to  me  the 
only  being,  endowed  with  fenfibility,  who  is  afFecled  by 
thefe.  Animals,  it  is  granted,  and  efpeciaily  bees  and 
butterflies,  have  certain  plants  proper  to  themfelves,  which 
attraft  or  repel  them  by  their  emanations ;  but  thefe  affec- 
tions fecm  to  be  connefted  with  their  necefTities.  Man 
alone  is  fenfible  to  the  perfume  and  luflre  of  flowers,  in- 
dependently of  all  animal  appetite.  The  dog  himfelf, 
who,  from  his  domeflic  habits,  afTumes  fo  powerful  a 
tinfture  of  the  manners  and  of  the  taifes  of  Man,  appears 
totally  infenfible  to  that  enjoyment.  The  impreflTion 
which  flowers  make  upon  us,  fecms  conneftcd  with  fome 
moral  aflcftion  ;  for  there  arc  fome  which  enliven  v.s^ 
whereas  others  dlfpofe  us  to  melancholy,  without  our  be- 
ing able  to  afhgn  any  other  reafons  for  it  than  thofe 
which  I  have  endeavoured  to  unfold,  in  examining  fome 
general  Laws  of  Nature. 

Inftead  of  diflinguifhing  them  as  yellow,  red,  blue,  vi- 
olet, wc  might  divide  them  into  gay,  into  ferious,  into 
melancholy  :  Their  charafter  is  fo  expreffive,  that  lov- 
ers, in  the  Eafl,  employ  their  fhades,  to  defcribe  the  dif- 
ferent degrees  of  their  pafTion.     Nature  makes  frequent 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  289 

ufe  of  it,  relatively  to  us,  with  the  fame  intention.  When 
(he  wants  to  keep  us  at  a  diftance  from  a  marlhy  and  un- 
wholefome  place,  fhe  fcatters  there  poifonous  plants,  which 
prefent  dingy  colours,  and  offenfive  fmells.  There  is  a 
fpecies  of  arum,  which  grows  in  the  moraffes  of  Magel- 
lan's Strait,  whofe  flower  exhibits  the  appearance  of  an 
ulcer,  and  exhales  an  odour  fo  ftrong  of  putrid  flefti,  that 
the  flefh  fly  reforts  to  it  to  depofit  her  eggs. 

But  the  number  of  fetid  plants  is  of  no  great  extent. 
The  Earth  is  clothed  with  flowers  which,  for  the  moft 
part,  have  very  pleafmg  hues  and  perfumes.  I  wifh  time 
would  permit  me  to  fay  fomething  of  the  Ample  aggrega- 
tion of  flowers.  This  fubje6l  is  fo  vafl:,  and  fo  rich,  that 
I  hefitate  not  to  affirm,  that  it  prefents  ample  employment 
for  the  mod  famous  Botanift  in  Europe,  through  his  whole 
life,  by  difcovering  to  him  every  day  fome  new  beauty, 
and  that  without  removing  above  a  league  from  his  own 
habitation.  All  the  art  with  which  jewellers  difpofe  their 
gems  difappears  before  that  which  Nature  difplays  in  the 
aflbrtment  of  flowers. 

1  fliewed  J.J.  Roujfeaii  the  flowers  of  different  trefoils, 
which  I  had  picked  up,  as  I  was  walking  with  him  :  Some 
of  them  were  difpofed  in  crowns,  in  half  crowns,  in  ears, 
in  flieaves,  with  colours  endlefsly  varied.  While  they 
were  yet  on  their  fl:ems,  they  had  befides  other  aggrega- 
tions, with  the  plants  which  were  frequently  ©ppofed  to 
them,  in  colours  and  in  forms.  I  afked  him,  whether  Bot- 
anifts  gave  themfelves  any  trouble  about  thofe  harmonies  : 
He  told  me  no  ;  but  that  he  had  advifed  a  young  Painter, 
of  Lyons,  to  learn  Botany,  with  a  particular  view  to  fl:udy 
in  it  the  forms  and  the  aflemblages  of  flowers ;  and  that  he 
had  thus  become  one  of  the  moll;  celebrated  pattern  draw- 
ers in  Europe.  On  this  fubjeft,  I  quoted  to  him  a  paflage 
from  Pliny^  wnth  which  he  was  highly  delighted  :  It  re- 
lates to  a  Painter  of  Sicyon,  named  Paiijias,  who  learned, 
by  means  of  this  ftudv,  to  paint  flowers  at  leafl;  as  well  as 
he  of  Lyons  knew  how  to  draw  th^m  :  He  had,  in  truth, 

VOL.  II.  N  n 


2^o  A  VINDICATION  o? 

a  mafler  as  fkilful  as  Nature  herfelf,  or  rather  one  and  the 
fame  with  her,  namely,  Love. 

I  fliall  give  this  flory  in  the  fimplicity  of  ftyle  of  the 
old  Tranflator  of  Pliny,  in  order  to  preferve  all  its  vivac- 
ity.* "  In  his  youth  he  hecame  enamoured  of  a  nofegay 
*'  girl,  of  the  fame  city  with  himfelf ;  her  name  was  Gly- 
*'  ccra  ;  fhe  was  very  pretty,  and  had  a  fmgularly  elegant 
*'  tafle  in  afforting,  a  tlioufand  different  ways,  the  flowers 
*'  of  nofegays  and  chaplets  ;  fo  that  Paufias,  copying  af- 
"  ter  Nature  the  chaplets  and  nofegays  of  his  miftrefs> 
*'  rendered  himfelf,  at  length,  perfeft  in  that  art.  Laft  o£ 
*^  all,  he  painted  her  feated,  in  the  a£iion  of  compofing  a 
"  chaplct  of  flowers  ;  and  this  pifture  is  confidered  as  his 
*'  great  maflerpiece  :  He  called  it  Stephano  Plocos^  the 
"  garland  weaver,  becaufe  Glycera  had  no  other  means  of 
*'  relieving  the  prelfure  of  poverty,  but  making  and  fell- 
"  ing  garlands  and  nofegays.  And  it  is  confidently  af- 
"  firmed,  that  L.  Lucullus  gave  to  Dionyjius,  of  Athens, 
"  two  talents,  for  a  fimple  copy  of  this  pi61;ure." 

This  anecdote  muft  have  been  Angularly  pleafing  to 
Pliny,  for  he  has  repeated  it  in  another  placet :  *'  Thofe 
of  Peloponefus,"  fays  he,  *'  were  the  firft  who  regulated 
the  colours  and  the  fmells  of  the  flowers  of  which, 
chaplets  were  compofed.  It  was,  however,  origin- 
ally the  invention  of  Paiifias,  a  Painter,  and  of  a  nofe- 
gay girl,  named  Glycera,  with  whom  he  was  violently 
in  love  ;  whence  he  was  engaged  to  imitate  to  the  life 
the  chaplets  and  nofegays  which  flie  compofed.  But 
the  girl  varied  in  fo  many  ways  the  arrangement  of 
the'flowers  of  her  chaplets,  in  order  to  teaze  and  employ 
her  lover,  that  it  afforded  very  high  amufement  to  be- 
hold the  ikill  ef  the  Painter  Paufias,  and  the  natural 
produ6iion  of  Glycera,  ft  riving  for  the  fuperiority. 
Ancient  Nature  is  ftill  better  acquainted  with  the  fub- 
jccl,  than  is  the  young  Glycera.     As   it   is  impofliblc  to 

*   P//nv's  Natural  Hiflory,  book  xxxv.  chap.  ii. 
t  Idem,  book  xxi.  chap,  ii. 


i 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  291 

follow  her  in  her  infinite  variety,  we  fhall  make,  at  leaft, 
one  obfervation  refpefting  her  regularity.  It  is  this,  that 
there  is  not  any  one  odoriferous  flower,  but  what  grows  at 
the  foot  of  Man,  or  at  leaft  within  reach  of  his  hand.  All 
thofe  of  thisdefcription  are  placed  on  herbage,  or  on  fhrub- 
bery,  as  the  heliotrope,  the  pink,  the  gilliflower,  the  vio- 
let, the  rofe,  the  lilach.  Nothing  fimilar  to  thefe  grows 
on  the  lofty  trees  of  our  forefts  ;  and  if  fome  flowers  of 
brilliant  appearance  are  difplayed  on  certain  tall  trees  ot 
foreign  countries,  fuch  as  the  tulip  tree,  and  the  great 
cheflnut  of  India,  they  have  no  very  pleafant  fmell.  Some 
trees  of  India,  it  is  admitted,  as  the  fpice  bearing  plants, 
are  perfumed  all  over  ;  but  their  flowers  are  not  very 
Ihowy,  and  do  not  partake  of  the  odour  of  their  leaves. 
The  flowers  of  the  cinnamon  tree  fmell  like  human  ex- 
crement :  This  I  know  to  be  true  by  experience ;  if,  how- 
ever, the  trees  which  were  fliewed  to  me  in  the  Ifle  of 
Trance,  in  a  plantation  belonging  to  Mr.  Magon,  were  the 
real  cinnamon.  The  beautiful  and  fragrant  flower  of  the 
magnolia  grows  on  the  lower  part  of  the  plant.  Befides, 
the  laurel  which  bears  it  is,  as  well  as  fpice  trees,  a  plant 
of  no  great  elevation. 

It  is  poflible  I  may  be  mifl:aken  in  fome  of  my  obfer- 
vations  ;  but  fuppofmg  them  multiplied,  with  refpeft  to 
the  fame  objeQ,  and  attefted  by  perfons  of  veracity,  and 
exempted  from  the  fpirit  of  fyftem,  I  am  able  to  deduce 
general  confequences  from  them,  which  ought  not  to  be  a 
matter  of  indifference  to  the  happinefs  of  Mankind,  by 
demonfl:rating  to  him  the  invariable  intentions  of  benevo- 
lence in  the  Author  of  Nature.  The  varieties  of  their 
adaptation  refleft  mutual  light  ;  the  means  are  different, 
but  the  end  is  conftantly  the  fame.  The  fame  goodnefs 
which  has  placed  the  fruit  defl:ined  for  the  nourifliment  of 
Man,  within  reach  of  his  hand,  muft  have  likewife  drfpof- 
ed  his  nofegay  with  fimilar  attention  to  his  conveniency. 
It  may  be  here  remarked,  that  our  fruit  trees  are  eafilv 
fcaied.;  and.  different  in  this  refpcft,  from  moft  foreff  tr-^:^e,'>. 


29«  A  VINDICATION  of 

Farther,  all  thofe  which  produce  fruits  that  are  foft,  when 
in  a  ftate  of  perfe£t  maturity,  and  which  would  have  been 
liable  to  be  bruifed  in  falling,  fuch  as  the  fig  tree,  the 
mulberry,  the  plum,  the  peach,  the  apricot,  prefent  their 
crop  at  a  fmall  diftance  from  the  ground  :  Thofe,  on  the 
contrary,  which  yield  hard  fruit,  and  fuch  as.  have  nothing 
to  rifk  from  falling  far,  carry  it  aloft,  as  walnut  trees,  cheft- 
nuts  and   cocoas. 

There  is  no  lefs  marveloufnefs  of  adaptation  in  the  forms 
and  fizes  of  fruits.  Many  of  them  are  moulded  for  the 
mouth  of  Man,  fuch  as  cherries  and  plums  ;  others  for 
his  hand,  fuch  as  pears  and  apples  ;  others  much  larger, 
fuch  as  melons,  have  the  fubdivifions  marked,  and  feem 
deilined  to  be  a  focial  family  repaft  :  Nay,  there  are  fome 
in  India,  as  the  jacque,  and  with  ourfelves  the  pumpion, 
large  enough  to  be  divided  among  a  neighbourhood.  .  Na- 
ture appears  to  have  obferved  the  fame  proportions  in  the 
various  fizes  of  the  fruits  deftined  to  the  nutriment  of  Man, 
as  in  the  magnitude  of  the  leaves  which  are  deligned  to  af- 
ford him  a  fhade  in  hot  countries  ;  for  of  thefe  fome  are 
contrived  to  be  a  flielter  for  a  fmgle  perfon,  others  for  a 
whole  family,  and  others  for  all  the  inhabitants  of  the 
fame  hamlet. 

I  (hall  not  dwell  long  on  the  other  relations  which 
plants  have  with  the  habitation  of  Man,  from  their  great- 
nefs  and  their  attitude,  though  many  very  curious  obfer- 
vations  might  be  fuggefled  on  that  fubjeft.  There  are 
few  of  them  but  what  are  capable  of  embellifhinghis  field, 
his  roof,  or  his  wall.  I  fhall  only  remark,  that  the  vicin- 
ity of  Man  is  beneficial  to  many  plants.  An  anonymous 
mifTionary  relates,  that  it  is  firmly  believed  by  the  Indians, 
that  the  cocoa  trees  which  have  houfes  around  their  roots, 
become  much  more  beautiful  than  thofe  where  there  are 
none  ;  as  if  that  ufeiul  tree  took  delight  in  being  near  the 
habitation  of  Man. 

Another  mifTionary,  a  bare  footed  Carmelite,  called  Fa- 
ther Pkihppe,  pofitively  affcrts,  that  when  the  cocoa  tree 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE. 


'91 


is  planted  clofe  by  houfes  or  huts,  it  is  rendered  more 
fruitful  by  the  fmoke,  by  the  afhes,  and  other  circumilan- 
ces  conne61ed  with  a  human  dwelling,  fo  as  to  produce 
double  the  quantity  of  fruit.  He  adds,  that,  for  this  rea- 
fon,  the  places  in  India  which  confift  of  palm  plantations, 
are  crowded  with  houfes  and  little  cabins  ;  and  that  the 
proprietors  of  thofe  plantations  give,  at  firft,  a  pecuniary 
premium,  as  an  inducement  to  come  and  live  there,  to- 
gether with  part  of  the  crop  when  it  is  reaped.  He  far- 
ther adds,  that  though  their  fruits,  which  are  very  large 
and  hard,  frequently  fall  down  from  the  trees,  when  they 
have  attained  a  ftate  of  full  maturity,  either  by  the  gnaw- 
ing of  the  rats,  or  by  the  violence  of  the  winds,  there  is 
not  a  fingle  inftance  known  of  any  perfon's  being  hurt  by 
the  fall.  This  appears  to  me  no  lefs  extraordinary  than  it 
did  to  him.''^ 

I  might  extend  the  influences  of  Man  to  feveral  of  our 
fruit  trees,  efpecially  the  apple  tree  and  the  vine.  I  nev- 
er faw  finer  apple  trees  in  the  Pais  de  Caux,  than  thofe 
which  grow  around  the  habitations  of  the  peafantry.  It 
is  true  that  the  attention  of  the  proprietor  may  have  great- 
ly contributed  to  this.  I  have  fometimes  felt  myfelf  flop- 
ped in  the  flreets  of  Paris,  to  contemplate  with  delight 
fmall  vines,  the  roots  of  which  are  in  the  fand,  and  under 
the  pavement,  enriching  with  their  cluliers  the  complete 
front  of  a  guard  houfe.  One  of  them,  I  think  about  fix 
or  feven  years  ago,  produced  two  crops  in  one  year,  as 
was  announced  in  the  public  prints. 


*  See  Voyage  to  the   Eaft,   of  R.  P.  Philippi,  a  white  frisr,   Book 
chap.  5.  fedion  4. 


B94  A  VINDICATION  or 


Animal  Har??iomes  of  Plants  with  Man. 


But  Nature  was  not  fatisfied  with  liaving  given  to  Man 
a  bower,  and  a  carpet,  loaded  with  fruit  ;  this  would  not 
have  availed  him,  had  (he  not  likewife  furnifhed  him,  in 
the  vegetable  order  itfelf,  the  means  of  defence  againft  the 
depredation:,  of  wild  beafts.  In  vain  would  he  have 
watched  over  the  prefervation  of  his  property  through  the 
day,  had  it  been  expofcd  to  pillage  during  the  night.  She 
has  beftowed  a  prickly  fhrubbery  to  enclofe  him  round 
and  round.  The  farther  we  advance  fouthward,  we  find 
the  greater  variety  in  the  fpecies  of  thefe.  But,  on  the 
contrary,  we  fee  few,  if  any,  of  thofe  thorny  fhrubs  in  the 
North,  where  they  appear  ufelefs  ;  there  being  no  orchards 
to  defend.  They  feem  to  be  produced,  in  both  Indies, 
for  every  kind  of  fituation.  Though  I  have  been  only  on 
the  felvage,  as  I  may  fay,  of  thofe  countries,  I  have  feen 
there  a  great  number  of  fuch  fhrubs,  the  fludy  of  which 
prefented  a  great  variety  of  curious  remarks  to  a  Nature 
alift. 

Among  others,  I  took  particular  notice  of  one,  in  a  gar- 
den on  the  Ifle  of  France,  which  to  me  appeared  proper 
for  compofing  a  fence  impenetrable  to  the  fmallefl  of 
quadrupeds.  It  rifes  in  form  of  a  ftake,  about  the  thicknefs 
of  a  man's  arm,  quite  ftraight,  without  branches,  and  bear- 
ing no  verdure  except  a  fmall  bunch  ot  leaves  on  its  fum- 
mit.  Its  bark  is  brillled  all  over  with  very  ftrong,  and 
very  fharp  prickles.  It  attains  the  height  of  feven  or  eight 
feet,  and  grows  as  thick  above  as  below.  A  feries  of  thefe 
{•hrubs,  planted  clofe  to  each  other,  would  form  a  real  pal- 
lifado,  without  the  fmalleft  interval.  The  opuntia  aiKl 
the  taper,  fo  connnon  under  the  Torrid  Zone,  are  armed 
with  prickles  fo  keen,  that  th«y  pierce  the  folcs  of  your. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  395 

jQioes  if  you  venture  to  walk  over  them.  There  is  not  a 
tyger,  or  lion,  or  elephant,  that  dares  to  approach  them. 
There  is  another  fpecies  of  thorn,  in  the  Ifland  of  Ceylon, 
which  is  employed  as  a  defence  againft  Man  himfeif,  ac- 
cuftomed  as  he  is  to  force  his  way  through  every  obflacle. 
Robert  Knox,  whom  I  have  before  quoted,  informs  us, 
that  the  avenues  of  the  kingdom  of  Candy,  in  the  Ifland 
of  Ceylon,  are  blockaded  only  with  faggots  of  thofe  thorns, 
with  which  the  inhabitants  obftruft  the  pafles  of  their 
mountains. 

Man  finds  in  vegetables,  protection  not  only  againft  fe- 
rocious animals,  but  againft  reptiles  and  infefts.  Father 
du  Tertre  tells  us,  that  he  one  day  found,  in  the  Ifland  of 
Gaudaloupe,  at  the  foot  of  a  tree,  a  creeping  plant,  the 
ftem  of  which  prefented  the  figure  of  a  ferpent.  But  he 
was  much  more  furprifed  on  perceiving  feven  or  eight 
fnakes  lying  dead  around  it.  He  communicated  this  dif^ 
covery  to  a  medical  man,  who,  by  means  of  it,  performed 
many  wenderful  cures,  by  employing  it  in  the  cafes  of 
perfons  bitten  by  thofe  dangerous  reptiles.  It  is  general- 
ly diffufed  over  the  reft  of  the  Antilles  Iflands,  in  which 
it  is  known  by  the  name  of  fnake  wood.  It  is  likewife 
found  in  the  Eaftindies.  John  Hugo  de  Linj'chottai  af- 
cribes  to  it  the  fame  figure,  and  the  fame  qualities. 

We  have,  in  our  own  clim.ates,  vegetables  which  pre- 
fent  very  ftrange  correfpondencies  and  contrafts  with  rep- 
tiles. Fliny  tells  us,  that  ferpents  are  very  fond  of  the  ju- 
niper and  the  fennel,  but  that  they  are  rarely  found  under 
the  fern,  the  trefoil,  the  afh  weed,  and  the  rue  ;  and  that 
betony  kills  them.  Other  plants,  as  has  already  been  men- 
tioned, deftroy  flies,  fuch  as  certain  fpecies  of  the  dionaea. 
Tkevenot  afTures  us,  that  in  the  Indies,  grooms  defend  their 
horfes  from  the  flies,  by  rubbing  them  every  morning  with 
the  flowers  of  the  pumpion.  The  fleabane,  which  bears 
black  and  Ihining  grains,  refembling  a  flea,  clears  the  houfe 
of  that  vermin,  if  Diofcorides  is  to  be  credited.  The  e- 
chium,  which  has  its  feed  formed  like  the  head  of  a  viper. 


2^6  A  VINDICATION  of 

is  fatal  to  thofe  reptiles.  It  is  probable,  that,  from  fuch  cori^ 
figurations,  men,  in  the  earlier  ages  of  the  World,  difcover- 
ed  the  relations  and  the  oppolitions  between  plants  and 
animals.  I  am  difpofed  to  believe,  that  each  genus  of  in- 
feft  has  its  deftruftive  vegetable  with  which  we  are  unac- 
quainted.    In  general,  all  vermin  (liuns  perfume. 

Nature  has  farther  given  us,  in  plants,  the  firft  patterns 
of  nets  for  hunting  and  fifhing.  There  grows  on  certain 
heaths  in  China,  a  fpecies  of  ratan,  fo  interwoven  and  fo 
ftrong,  as  to  catch  and  hold  faft  the  flag,  though  in  full 
vigour.  1  myfclf  have  feen  on  the  fands  of  the  fea  fhore 
in  the  Ifle  of  France,  a  fpecies  of  lianne,  called  the  falfe 
potatoe,  which  covers  whole  acres,  like  a  vaft  fifliing  net. 
It  is  fo  perfeftly  adapted  to  this  very  purpofe,  that  the  Ne- 
groes aftually  employ  it  in  fi filing.  They  form,  with  the 
items  and  foliage  of  it,  a  very  long  feries  of  cordages, 
■which  they  call  into  the  fea  ;  and  having  difpofed  them  in 
a  chain  encompaffing  a  great  fpace  on  the  water,  they  draw 
it  afliore  by  the  two  extremities.  They  fcarcely  ever  fail 
to  bring  outfifli,*  for  the  fiflies  are  terrified,  not  only  by  a 
net  which  enclofes  them,  but  by  every  unknown  fubftance 
which  forms  a  fhade  on  the  furface  of  the  water.  By  em- 
ploying an  induftry  equally  fimple,  and  nearly  fimilar, 
the  inhabitants  ot  the  Maldivia  Iflands  carry  on  fifheries 
to  a  prodigious  extent,  employing  no  other  means  to  de- 
coy the  fifh  into  their  receptacles,  except  a  cord  floating 
on  the  water,  with  the  help  of  ilicks. 


Human,  or  tkmcntary  Harmonies  of  Plants. 


There  is  not  a  finglc  plant  on  the  face  of  the  Earth,  but 
what  has  certain  relations  to  the  necefhties  of  Man,  and 

♦  See  Francis  Pyrard'i  Voyage  to  the  Maldlvias. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  S97 

which  does  not  ferve,  fomevvhere  or  another,  for  clothing 
to  him,  for  a  fheker,  for  pleafure,  for  medicine,  or,  atleaft, 
for  fuel.  Some,  which  with  us  are  entirely  ufelefs,  are  in 
high  eftimation  in  other  parts  of  the  World.     The  Eg)'p- 
tians  put  up  frequent  and   fervent  prayers  for  a  plentiful 
crop  of  nettles,  from  the  feeds  of  which  they  extraa  an 
oil,  while  the   flem  furnifhes  them  with  a  thread,  which 
they  weave  into  excellent  cloth.     But  thofe  general  rela- 
tions, being  innumerable,  I  fhall  confine  myfelf  to  a  few 
particular  obfervations,  refpeding  the  plants  which  mln- 
ifter  to  the  firft  of  human  wants,  I  mean  the  food  of  Man, 
We  remark,  firft,  that  corn,  which  ferves  for  the  gen- 
eral fubfiftence  of  the  Human  Race,  is  not  produced  by 
Vegetables  of  a  lofty  ftature,  but  by  fimple  gralTes.     The 
principal  fupport  of  human  life  is  borne  on'^herbage,  and 
is  expofed  to  the  mercy  of  every  breath  of  wind.     There 
is  reafon  to  believe,  that  had  we  ourfelves  been  intrufted 
with  the  fafety  of  our  crops,  we  would  not  have  failed  to 
place  them  on  great  trees ;  but  in  tliis,  as  well  as  in  every 
thing  elfe,  we  are  bound  to  admire  Divine   Providence, 
and  to  miftruft  our  own  wifdom.     Had  our  harvefts  been 
the  produce  of  the  forefts,  in  the  event  of  thefe  being  de- 
ftroyed  by  war,  or  fet  on  fire  through  our  own  impru-^ 
dence,  or  rooted  up  by  the  winds,  or  ravaged  by  inunda- 
tions, whole  ages  would  have  been  requifite  to  reproduce 
them  in  a  country.     Farther,  the  fruits  of  trees  are  much 
more  liable  to  drop  off,  than  the  feeds  of  graffes.     The 
graffes,  as  has  been  already  obferved,  carry  their  flowers 
in  an  ear,   in  many  cafes  furmounted  by  little  beards, 
which  do  not  defend  their  feeds  from  the  birds,  as  Cicerl 
fays,   but  which  ferve,  as   fo  many  little  roofs,  to   fhelter 
them  from  the  water  which  falls   from  Heaven.     The 
drops  of  the  rain  cannot  drown  them,   as  they  do  flowers 
radiated,  in  difks,  in  rofes  and  in  umbels,   the  forms    of 
which,  however  are  adapted  to  certain  places  and  u>  cer- 
tain feafons  ;  but  thofe  of  the  graffes  are  adapted  to  everv 
expofure. 

VOL.    II.  O  O 


2^8  A  VINDICATION  of 

Wlien  they  are  borne  in  flowing  and  drooping  plumes^ 
fucli  as  thofe  of  mail  grafles  of  hot  countries,  they  are 
flieltered  from  the  heat  of  the  Sun;  and  when  collefted 
into  an  ear,  as  thofe  of  moft  grafles  of  cold  countries,  they 
refleft  his  rays  on  at  leaft  one  fide.  Farther,  by  the  fup- 
plencfs  of  their  flems,  ftrengthened  by  joints  from  dif- 
tance  to  dillance,  and  by  their  filiform  and  capillaceous 
leaves,  they  efcape  the  violence  of  the  winds.  Their  weak- 
nefs  avails  them  more  than  flrength  does  the  great  trees. 
Like  fmall  fortunes,  they  are  refown  and  multiplied, 
by  the  very  fame  tempelts  w^hich  lay  waJle  the  vaft  for- 
efts. 

They  farther  refift  the  effecl  of  exceffivedrynefs  by  the 
length  of  their  roots,  which  go,  in  quefl  of  moillure,  a 
great  way  under  ground  ;  and  though  their  leaves  are  nar- 
row, they  have  them  in  fuch  numbers,  that  they  cover  the 
face  of  the  ground  with  plants  endtefsly  multiplied.  At 
the  flighteft  fhower,  you  fee  them  all  rear  themfelves  into 
tlie  air,  at  their  extremities,  as  if  they  were  fo  many  claws. 
They  even  refill  conflagration,  which  confumes  fo  many 
trees  in  the  loreft.  I  have  (een  countries  in  which  they 
every  year  fet  the  herbage  on  fire,  in  the  feafon  of  drought, 
recover  themfelves,  as  foon  as  it  rained,  with  the  moll 
lovely  verdure.  Though  this  fire  be  fo  a6tive,  as  frequently 
to  devour,  root  and  branch,  the  trees  which  come  into 
contaQ  with  it,  the  roots  of  herbage  fuftain  no  great  in- 
jury from  it. 

They  have,  moreover,  the  faculty  of  reproducing  them- 
felves in  three  different  ways,  by  fhoots  which  pufh  away 
from  their  roots,  by  creeping  branches,  which  they  ex- 
tend to  a  diflance,  and  by  grains  extremely  volatile  or  in- 
digeftiblc,  which  the  winds  and  the  animals  fcatter  about 
on  every  fide.  The  greatcll  part  of  trees,  on  the  contra- 
ry, naturally  regenerate  themfelves  only  by  their  feeds. 
Add  to  the  general  advantages  of  graffes,  an  aflonifliing 
variety  of  charaQers,  in  their  florifi cation  and  in  their 
altitudes,  which  renders  them  more  proper  than  vegeta- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  259 

bles  of  every  oilier  clafs,  to  grow  in  every  variety  of  fitu- 
ation. 

It  is  in  this  cofmopolite  family,  if  I  may  be  allowed 
the  expreflion,  that  Nature  has  placed  the  principal  ali- 
ment of  Man  ;  for  the  various  fpecics  of  corns,  on  which 
fo  many  human  tribes  fubfift,  are  only  fo  many  fpecles  of 
graffes.  There  is  no  land  on  the  Globe  where  fome  kind 
of  corn  or  another  may  not  be  raifed.  Homer,  who  had 
ftudied  Nature  fo  accurately,  frequently  charaQerizes  each 
country  by  the  vegetable  peculiar  to  it.  One  ifland  he 
celebrates  for  its  grapes,  another  for  its  olive  trees,  a  third 
for  its  laurels,  and  a  fourth  for  its  palms ;  but  to  the 
Earth  only  he  gives  the  general  epithet  of  Zs/^a;p,  or 
corn  giving.  Nature,  in  faft,  has  formed  it  for  growing 
in  all  fituatlons,  from  the  Line  to  the  very  border  ot  the 
Frozen  Ocean.  One  fpecles  is  adapted  to  the  humid  place<; 
of  warm  countries,  as  the  rice  of  Afia,  which  grows  in 
vaft  abundance  in  the  muddy  fwamps  by  the  fide  ot  the 
Ganges.  Another  is  fulted  to  the  marlhy  grounds  of 
cold  countries;  fuch  is  a  kind  of  falfe  oats,  which  natur- 
ally grows  on  the  banks  of  the  rivers  of  North  America, 
and  of  which  many  favage  Nations  annually  raifeimmenfe 


crops  * 


Other  kinds  of  corn  thrive  wonderfully  well  on  warm 
and  dry  lands,  as  the  millet  and  the  pannlck  of  Africa,  and 
the  maize  of  Brafil.  In  our  climates,  wheat  agrees  beft 
with  a  ftrong  foil,  rye  with  a  fandy  one,  buckwheat  with 
rainy  declivities,  oats  with  humid  plains,  barley  with  ftony 
ground.  Barlev  fucceeds  in  the  very  bofom  of  the  North. 
1  have  feen,  as  far  up  as  the  fixty  firft  degree  of  North  Lat- 
itude,  amldft  the  rocks  of  Flndland,  crops  ol  this  gram 
as  beautiful  as  ever  the  plains  of  Palefline  produced. 

Corn  affords  an  abundant  fupply  to  all  the  necefli- 
tles  of  Man.     With  its  ftraw   he  enjoys  the  means  or 

*  ConCuk  Father  Henn.pfn,  a  Tranclfcan  :  a.-/>/airr,  and  other  Travel- 
krs  through  North  America. 


3O0  A  VINDICATION  o? 

lodging,  of  covering,  of  warming  himfelf,  and  of  feeding. 
his  fheep,  his  cow  and  his  horfe  ;  with  its  grain  he  can 
compound  aliments  and  liquors  of  every  flavour.  The 
jTorthern  Nations  brew  it  into  beer,  and  diftii  from  it 
flrong  waters,  more  potent  than  tliofe  from  wine ;  fuch 
are  the  diftillations  of  Dantzick.  The  Chinefe*  extraft 
from  rice,  a  wine  as  agreeable  as  the  belt  wines  of  Spain. 
The  Brafilians  prepare  their  ouicou  with  maize.  In  a 
word,  with  oats  torrefied,  it  is  poffible  to  compofe  a  cream 
which  fhall  have  the  perfume  of  the  vanilla.  If  we  unite 
with  thefe  qualities  thofe  of  the  other  domeftic  plants, 
mofl  ot  which  likewife  grow  all  over  the  Earth,  we  fhall 
find  in  them  the  favour  of  the  clove,  of  pepper,  of  other 
fpiceries;  and  without  going  farther  than  our  own  gar- 
dens, we  fhall  be  able  to  colleft  the  delicacies  fcattered  o- 
ver  the  reft  of  the  vegetable  Creation. 

We  may  diftinguifh,  in  the  barley  and  the  oats,  the  ele- 
mentary chara£fers  which  have  been  formerly  indicated, 
and  which  vary  the  fpecies  of  plants  of  the  fame  genus, 
in  a  conformity  to  the  fituations  where  they  are  defigned 
to  grow.  The  barley  deftined  to  dry  places  has  leaves 
broad  and  open  at  their  bafe,  which  convey  the  rain  wa- 
ter to  the  root  of  the  plant.  The  long  beards  which  fur- 
mount  the  coat  that  is  wrapped  round  the  grain,  are  brift- 
led  with  denticulations,  very  much  adapted  to  the  pur- 
pofe,  of  making  them  adhere  to  the  hair  of  animals,  and  of 
refowing  them  in  lofty  and  dry  fituations.  The  oats,  on 
the  contrary,  deftined  to  humid  places,  have  narrow  leaves, 
gathered  clofe  around  the  ftem,  in  order  to  intercept  the 
rain  water.  The  coats  of  this  plant  diftended,  fimilar  to 
two  long  half  bladders,  and  not  very  clofely  adhering  to 
the  grain,  render  it  proper  for  floating,  and  crofting  the 
v/ater  by  the  help  of  the  winds.  But  here  we  are  prefent- 
td  with  a  ftill  more  wonderful  faft,  which  will  confirm 
what  has  been  advanced,  refpefting  the  ufes  of  the  differ- 

♦  Joufncy  to  China,  by  JJbnuid  Ides. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  304 

cnt  parts  of  plants,  relatively  to  the  elements,  and  which 
extends  the  views  of  Nature  even  beyond  the  fruftifica- 
tion,  though  we  have  confidered  this  as  the  determining 
charafter  ;  it  is,  that  barley,  in  rainy  years,  degenerates 
into  oats,  and  that  oats,  in  dry  feafons,  change  into  bar- 
ley. 

This  obfervation,  related  by  Pliny,  Galen  and  Mathiola, 
the  Commentator  of  D  lof cor  ides, "^  has  been  confirmed  by 
the  experiments  of  feveral  modern  Naturalifts.  Mathiola, 
indeed,  alleges,  that  this  transformation  of  barley  is  not 
into  oats  properly  fo  called,  which  he  denominates  Bro- 
7nos,  but  into  a  plant  which,  at  firft  fight,  refembles  it, 
and  to  which  he  gives  the  name  of  jEgilops.  This  trans- 
formation, demonftrated  by  the  frequently  repeated  ex- 
periments of  the  hufloandmen  of  his  country,  and  by  that 
which  the  father  of  Galen  made,  exprefsly  for  his  own 
fatisfa6lion;  together  with  that  of  the  flowers  of  the  lin- 
arium,  and  of  the  leaves  of  many  vegteables,  are  fufficient 
proof,  that  the  elementary  relations  of  plants,  are  only  fec- 
ondary  relations,  and  that  anrmal,  or  human,  relations  are 
the  primary.  Thus,  Nature  has  placed  the  character  of  a 
plant,  not  only  in  the  form  of  the  fruit,  but  in  the  fub- 
ff  ance  of  that  very  fruit. 

Hence  I  prefume,  that  having  formed,  in  general,  of  a 
mealy  fubftance,  the  bafis  of  human  life.  Nature  has  dif- 
fufed  it  overall  fituations,  on  different  fpecies  ofgraffes; 
that  afterwards,  intending  to  add  to  this,  certain  modifica- 
tions relative  to  fome  humors  of  the  human  temperament, 
or  to  fome  influence  of  feafon,  or  of  climate,  fhe  has  form- 
ed other  combinations  of  it,  which  fhe  has  depofited  in 
leguminous  plants,  fuch  as  peafe  and  beans,  which  the 
Romans  comprehended  in  the  clafs  of  corn  plants ;  that, 
£ naliy,  flie  has  formed  another  fort  of  it,  which  flie  has 
laid  up  in  the  fruits  of  trees,  fuch  as  cheflnuts,  or  in  roots, 

•  See  Uat'lmia  on  Diofcoridcs^  book  iv.  page  432, 


302  A  VINDICATIOiNT  of 

as  potatoes,  and  other  farinaceous  under  ground  vegeta- 
bles. 

Thofe  adaptations  of  fubflance  to  every  climate  are  fo 
infallibly  certain,  that,  in  every  country,  the  fruit  which 
is*  moft  common  there  is  the  beft,  and  the  moft  whole- 
fome.  Hence  I  farther  prefume,  that  Ihe  has  followed 
the  fame  plan  with  refpetl  to  medicinal  plants;  and  that 
having  diffufed  over  various  families  of  vegetables,  vir- 
tues relative  to  our  blood,  to  our  nerves,  to  our  humours, 
fhe  has  modified  them  in  every  country,  conformably  to 
the  difeafes  which  the  climate  of  each  particular  country 
generates,  and  has  placed  them  in  oppofition  with  the  par- 
ticular charafters  of  thofe  fame  difeafes.  It  is,  in  my 
opinion,  from  the  negleft  of  thefe  obfervations,  that  fo 
manv  doubts  and  difputes  have  been  excited  refpefting 
the  virtues  of  plants.  A  fimple,  which,  in  one  country,  is 
an  infallible  cure  for  a  malady,  may,  fometimes  increafe 
it  in  another.  The  Jefuits  powder,  which  is  the  pounded 
bark  of  a  fpecies  of  frefh  water  manglier  of  Mexico,  is  a 
remedy  for  the  fevers  of  America,  of  a  kind  peculiar  to 
damp  and  hot  fituations,  but  frequently  fails  when  applied 
to  thofe  of  Europe.  Every  medicine  is  modified  accord- 
ing to  the  place,  juft  as  every  malady  is. 

1  fhall  purfue  this  refleftion  no  farther,  as  it  would  lead 
me  into  a  deviation  from  my  fubjeft  ;  but  if  Phyficians 
would  pay  the  attention  to  it  which  it  merits,  they  mufl: 
jludy  more  carefully  the  plants  of  their  own  country,  and 
not  prefer  to  them,  as  they  generally  do,  thofe  of  foreign 
climates,  which  they  arc  under  the  ncceiruy  of  modifying 
a  thoufand  different  ways,  in  order  to  give  them,  as  chance 
may  dircfl,  an  adaptation  to  local  maladies.  One  thing 
is  certain,  namely,  that  when  Nature  has  determined  a 
certain  favour  in  any  vegetable,  (he  repeats  it  all  over  the 
Earth,  with  a  variety  of  modifications,  which  do  not,  how- 
ever, prevent  our  dillinguilhing  its  principal  virtue. 
Thus,  having  placed  the  cochlcana  (fcurvy  grafs)  that 
powerful  antilcorbutic,  even  oia  the  foggy  fhores  of  Spitz- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  303 

bcrgen,  ftie  has  repeated  the  favour  and  the  medicinal  qual- 
ities of  it,  in  the  crefTes  of  our  brooks,  in  the  garden  crefT- 
es,  in  the  nafturtium,  which  is  a  crefs  of  the  rivers  of  Pe- 
ru ;  in  a  word,  in  the  very  grains  of  the  papaya,  which 
grows  in  humid  places  of  the  Antilles  Iflands.  We  find, 
in  like  manner,  the  favour,  the  fmell,  and  the  medicinal 
qualities  of  our  garlick,  in  the  woods,  the  barks,  and  the 
mofles  of  America."* 

*  I  muft  here  obferve  that  garlic,  the  fmell  of  which  is  fo  formidable  to 
our  fine  ladies,  is,  perhaps,  the  moft  infallible  remedy  in  the  World  againfl: 
the  vapours,  and  all  the  nervous  diforders  to  which  women  are  fo  fubjeft. 
Of  this  I  have  had  repeated  experience.  Nay,  Pliny  goes  fo  far  as  t» 
affureus,  that  it  is  a  cure  for  the  epilepfy.  It  is,  befides,  an  antifeptic; 
and  every  plant  which  has  its  fmell,  ha«  alfo  the  fame  virtues.  It  is  very 
remarkable,  that  plants  which  fmell  like  garlic,  ufually  grow  in  marfhy 
places,  as  a  remedy,  provided  by  Nature,  againft  the  putrid  emanations 
thence  exhaled.  Such  is,  among  others,  the/wt/?«?;z.  G^/^n  relates,  that 
its  antifeptic  virtue  became  demonftrable  from  this,  that  after  a  battle,  the 
dead  bodies  which  happened  to  be  in  contraft  with  plants  of  the  fcordium, 
were  found  to  be  in  a  much  lefs  putrid  ftate  than  thofe  which  were  not  ; 
and  that  thofe  bodies  remained  frefh  and  found  chiefly  in  the  parts  which 
aftually  touched  the  plant.  But  the  experiment  which  the  Baron  Bujbequius 
made  with  it,  upon  living  bodies,  is  ftill  more  ftriking.  That  great  Man, 
on  his  return  from  the  firft  journey  which  he  made  to  Conftantinople,  was 
attended  by  a  numerous  retinue.  A  Turk  of  his  fuite  was  attacked  with  the 
plague  and  died.  His  companions  refolutely  divided  his  fpoils  among 
themfelves,  in  defiance  of  the  remonftrances  of  the  Phyfician  B^>fJequius^^Nh.o 
affured  them  that  the  peftilence  would  thereby  be  immediately  communi- 
cated. In  faft,  a  few  days  after,  the  fymptoms  of  that  dreadful  malady 
became  apparent  among  them. 

But  let  us  permit  the  intelligent  and  virtuous  Ambaffador  himfelf  to  give 
an  account  of  the  confequences  of  this  alarming  event.  **  The  day  after 
**  our  departure  from  Adrianople,"  fays  he,  "  they  all  came  to  him  (the 
**  Phyfician)  with  a  fad  and  dejefted  air,  complaining  of  a  violent  head- 
*'  ache,  and  imploring  relief.  Tiiey  were  perfeftly  fenfible  that  they  were 
*'  affefted  with  the  firft  fymptoms  of  the  peftilence.  My  Phyfician  rep- 
**  rimanded  them  feverely,  faying  he  wasaftoniftied  how  they  dared  to  ap- 
**  ply  to  him  for  a  remedy  from  an  evil  of  which  he  had  forewarned  them, 
**  and  which  they  had  obflinately  perfiftcd  in  bringing  upon  themfelves. 
**  Not,  however,  that  he  intended  to  withhold  any  affiftance  which  might 
*'  be  in  his  power.  On  the  contrary,  he  became  extremely  uneafy  about 
**  the  means  of  relieving  thera  :  But  where  was  the  poflibility  of  finding 
**  medicine  oh  a  road  frequently  fubjefted  to  a  failure  of  tkc  moft  com- 


304  A  VINDICATION  o? 

Thefeconfiderations  induce  me  to  believe,  that  the  ele« 
mentary  charafters  of  plants,  and  their  entire  configuration, 
are  only  fecondary  means,  and  that  their  principal  char- 
a£ler  is  referribie  to  the  necefTities  of  Man.  Thus,  in  or- 
der to  eflablifh  in  plants  an  order  fimple  and  agreeable, 
inflcad  of  running  over  fuccefTively  their  elementary,  veg- 
etable, animal,  and  human  harmonies,  it  would  be  more 
proper  to  invert  this  order,  but  without  changing  it,  and 
to  fet  out  with  the  plants  which  prefent  to  Man  a  fupply 
for  his  firfl  wants,  to  proceed  thence  to  the  ufes  which  an- 
imals derive  from  them,  and  to  conclude  with  the  fitua- 
lions  which  determine  their  varieties. 

This  order  may  be  followed  fo  much  the  more  eafily, 
that  the  firfl  point  of  departure  is  fixed  by  the  fmell  and 
the  tafle.  The  teflimony  of  thefe  two  fenfes  is  far  from 
being  contemptible;  for  they  afTifl  us  in  afcertaining  the 
intimate  qualities  of  plants,  much  better  than  the  decom- 
pofilions  of  Chemiflry;   it  may  be  extended  to  the  whole 

*'  mon  necelTarles  of  life  ?  Providence  became  our  only  refuge,  and  wc 
**  were  effcftually  fuccoured  in  this  trying  hour.  I  am  going  to  relate  in 
•*  what  manner. 

*'  It  was  my  cuftom  on  our  arrival  at  the  different  halting  places  on  the 
*'  road,  to  go  a  walking  in  the  vicinity,  and  to  take  a  view  of  every  thing 
**  curious.  That  day  I  was  fo  fortunate  as  to  bend  my  courfe  to  an  adja- 
•*  cent  meadow.  My  eye  happened  to  catch  fight  of  a  plant  with  which 
**  I  was  unacquainted  ;  I  picked  up  fomeof  its  leaves,  and  put  them  to  my 
•*  n'ofc:  Ihcy  fmelled  of  gulic.  I  handed  them  to  my  phyfician,  alTcing 
"  him  if  he  knew  the  plant.  After  having  attentively  examined  it,  he  re- 
**  plied  that  it  was  the  fcordium.  He  lifted  up  his  hands  to  Heaven,  and 
"  gave  thanks  to  Gob  for  the  feafonable  relief  which  He  had  fcnt  us.  He 
*'  inllantly  gathered  a  confiderablc  quantity,  put  it  into  a  large  kettle,  and 
"  boiled  it  thoroughly.  Then,  calling  for  the  patients,  defired  them  to 
**  take  courage,  and,  without  the  lofs  of  a  moment,  made  them  drink  co- 
♦♦  pioufly  of  the  decoftion  of  that  plant,  with  a  flight  infufion  of  the  earth 
*'  of  Lemnos  :  He  then  had  them  well  warmed,  and  put  to  bed,  defiring 
"  them  not  to  go  to  flcep  till  they  had  fallen  into  a  profuic  perfpiration, 
"  with  which  they  exaftly  complied.  The  next  day  they  felt  thcmfelvcs 
**  greatly  relieved.  A  fimilar  dofe  was  repeated,  and  the  whole  ended  in 
**  a  pcifctl  cure.  Thus,  through  the  goodnefsof  God,  we  efcaped  a  death 
"  which  flared  us  immediately  in  the  face."  (Letters  ol  the  Baton  Rujlc- 
qutus,  vol.  i.  page  197  and  198.) 


BiVINE  PROVIDENCE.  305 

vegetable  kingdom,  inafmuch  as  ibere  is  not  a  fingle  ge- 
nus of  plants,  varied  into  umbelliferous,  rofe  formed,  pa- 
pilionaceous,  and  the  reft,  but  what  prefents  food  to  Man, 
in  fome  part  or  another  of  the  Globe.  The  ciperus  of 
Ethiopia  bears,  at  its  root,  bulbs  which  have  the  tafte  of 
almonds.  That  which  in  Italy  is  called  Trafi  produces 
bulbs  which  tafte  like  cheftnuts."^  We  have  found,  in 
America,  the  potatoe  in  the  clafs  oi  folana,  which  are 
poifons.  It  is  a  jafmine  of  Arabia,  which  fupplies  us 
with  the  coffee  berry.  The  eglantine,  with  us,  produces 
berries  fit  only  for  the  ufe  of  birds ;  but  that  of  the  Land 
of  YefTo,  which  grows  there  among  rocks,  and  the  fliells 
on  the  fea  fhore,  bears  cups  fo  large  and  fo  nourifhing-, 
that  they  ferve  for  food  to  the  inhabitants  of  thofe  fhores, 
for  a  confiderable  part  of  the  year.t  The  ferns  of  our 
hills  are  unproductive  ;  but  there  grows  in  North  America 
a  fpecies  of  this  plant,  called  Filix  baccifera,  loaded  with 
berries,  which  are  very  good  to  eat.:};  The  treeitfelf  of  the 
Molucca  Iflands,  called  Libbi  by  the  inhabitants,  and 
palm  fago  by  travellers,  is,  in  the  judgment  of  our  Bot- 
anifts,  merely  a  fern.  This  fern  contains  in  its  trunk  the 
fago,  a  fubflance  lighter,  and  more  delicate  than  rice. 
In  a  word,  there  are  even  certain  fpecies  of  fea  weed, 
which  the  Chinefe  eat  with  dehght,  among  others,  thofe 
which  compofe  the  nefts  of  a  fpecies  of  f wallow. 

By  difpofing  in  this  order,  therefore,  the  plants  which 
produce  the  principal  fubfiftence  of  Man,  as  the  graifes, 
we  fhould  have,  firft,  for  our  own  country ;  the  wheat  of 
ftrong  lands,  the  rye  of  the  fands,  the  barley  of  the  rocks, 
the  oats  of  humid  places,  the  buck  wheat  of  rainy  decliv- 
ities ;  and  for  other  climates  and  expofures,  the  pannic, 
the  millet,  the  maize,  the  Canadian  oats,  the  rice  of  Afia, 

*  See  the  Catalogue  of  Garden  Plants  of  Boulogne,  by  Hyacinth  Atahu 
fino. 

+  Confiilt  Colleftion  of  Voyages  by  Thevcnot. 

X  See  Father  Ckarkvoix,  his  Hiftory  of  New  France, 

VOL.  II,  P   p 


oo6  A  VINDICATION  OF 

ibme  ipccics  of  which  thrive  in  dry  fituations ;  and  fo  of 
the  i^eft. 

It  would  be  farther  uleful  to  afcertain  on  the  Globe  the 
places  to  which  the  fevcral  origin  of  each  ahmentary 
plant  might  be  referred.  What  1  have  to  advance  on 
ihis  fubiect  may  be  conje6lure  merely,  but  it  appears  to 
me  to  have  an  air  of  probability.  1  am  of  opinion,  then, 
that  Nature  has  placed  in  iflands  the  fpecies  of  plants 
which  are  mod  beautiful,  and  befl  adapted  to  the  necefli- 
ties  of  Man.  Firil,  iflands  are  more  tavourable  to  the  el- 
ementary expanfions  of  plants,  than  the  interior  of  con- 
tinents, for  there  is  no  one  but  what  enjoys  the  influences 
of  all  the  elements,  being  completely  furrounded  by  the 
winds  and  the  feas,  and  frequently  in  its  interior,  pofTeflT- 
lUfr  the  combined  advantages  of  plains,  of  fands,  of  lakes, 
of  rocks  and  of  mountains.  An  ifland  is  a  little  world  in 
epitome.  Secondly,  their  particular  temperature  is  fo  va- 
ried, that  you  find  of  them  in  all  the  principal  points  of 
Longitude  and  Latitude,  though  there  be  a  confiderable 
number  ilill  unknown  to  us,  particularly  in  the  South 
Seas.  Finallv,  experience  demonftrates,  that  there  is  not 
a  fnvAe  fruit  tree  in  Europe,  but  what  becomes  more 
beautiful  in  fome  of  the  iflands  along  its  coafts,  than  in 
the  Continent. 

1  have  fpoken  of  the  beauty  of  the  cheflnut  trees  of 
Corfica  and  Sicily  :  But  Pliny,  who  has  preferved  to  us 
the  origin  of  the  fruit  trees  which  were  in  Italy  in  his 
time,  informs  us,  that  mofl:  of  them  had  been  imported 
from  the  iflands  of  the  Archipelago.  The  walnut  came 
from  Sardinia  ;  the  vine,  the  fig  tree,  the  olive,  and  many 
other  fruit  trees,  were  natives  of  the  other  iflands  of  the 
Mediterranean.  Nay,  heobfervcs,  that  the  olive  tree,  as  well 
as  fevcral  other  plants,  thrives  only  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Sea.  All  modern  travellers  confirm  thefe  obfervations. 
Tavcr/ricr,  who  had  fo  many  times  traverfed  the  Afiatic 
Continent,  alfures  us,  that  no  olive  trees  are  to  be  feen  be- 
yond Aleppo.     An  anonymous  Englifti  traveller,  whom 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  307 

I  have  already  quoted  with  approbation,  pofitively  afferts, 
that  no  where,  on  the  Continent,  are  there  to  be  found  fig 
trees,  vines,  mulberries,  as  well  as  many  other  fruit  trees, 
once  to  be  compared,  either  as  to  magnitude  or  fertility, 
with  thofe  of  the  Archipelago,  notwithftanding  the  care- 
leffnefs  and  indolence  of  the  wretched  poffellbrs.  To 
thefe  I  might  add  a  great  many  other  vegetables,  which 
thrive  only  in  thofe  iflands,  and  which  furnilh  to  the 
commerce  of  Europe,  gums,  mannas,  and  dye  fluffs.  The 
apple  tree,  fo  common  in  Trance,  produces  no  where 
fuch  fine  fruit,  and  of  fpecies  fo  varied,  as  on  the  fliores 
of  Normandy,  under  the  breath  of  the  fea  breeze  from  the 
Weft.  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  fruit  which  was  propof- 
ed  as  the  prize  of  beauty  had,  like  Venus  herfelf,  fome  fa- 
vourite ifle. 

If  we  carry  our  remarks  even  into  the  Torrid  Zone  we 
fiiall  find  that  it  is  neither  from  Afia,  nor  from  Africa, 
that  we  obtain  the  clove,  the  nutmeg,  the  cinnamon,  the 
pepper  of  the  beft  quality  ;  the  benzoin,  the  fandal  wood, 
the  fago  and  many  others,  but  from  the  Molucca  Iflands, 
or  from  thofe  which  are  in  the  fame  feas.  The  cocoa 
tree  attains  its  perfeft  beauty  only  in  the  Maldivia  Iflands. 
Nay,  there  are,  in  the  archipelagos  of  thofe  Seas,  a  great 
number  of  fruit  trees  defcribed  by  Da?npier,  which  have 
not  yet  been  tranfplanted  into  the  Old  Continent ;  fuch 
as  the  grape  tree.  The  double  cocoa  is  to  be  found  only 
in  the  Sechelles  Iflands.  The  iflands  recently  difcovered 
in  the  Soutli  Sea,  fuch  as  that  of  Tai'ti,  have  prefented  us 
with  trees  hitherto  unknown,  as  the  bread  fruit,  and  the 
mulberry  tree,  the  bark  of  which  ferves  to  make  cloth. 
As  much  may  be  fald  of  the  vegetable  productions  of  the 
Iflands  of  America  relatively  to  their  Continent. 

Thefe  obfervations  might  be  extended  even  to  the  very 
birds  and  quadrupeds,  which  are  more  beautiful,  and  of 
fpecies  more  varied,  in  iflands,  than  any  where  clfe.  Tlie 
elephants  held  in  highefl:  efl;imation  in  Afia,  are  thofe  of 
the  Ifland  of  Ceylon.     The  Indians  believe  them  to  be 


3o8  A  VINDICATION  of 

pofTefTed  of  fomething  divine ;  nay,  more,  they  allege, 
that  other  elephants  acknowledge  this  fuperiority.  One 
thing  is  certain,  they  fetch  a  higher  price  all  over  Afia 
than  any  others.  In  a  word,  travellers  the  moft  worthy 
of  credit,  and  who  have  made  the  moft  accurate  obferva- 
tions,  as  the  Englifh  Dampier^  Father  dii  Tertre^  and 
fome  others,  affure  us,  that  there  is  not  a  fhallow  in  the 
feas  lying  between  the  Tropics,  but  what  is  diftinguiflied 
by  fome  fort  of  bird,  of  crab,  of  turtle,  or  of  fifh,  which 
is  no  where  elfe  to  be  found,  either  of  fpecies  fo  varied, 
or  in  fo  great  abundance.  I  prefume  that  Nature  has 
thus  fcattered  her  choiceft  benefits  over  the  iflands,  in  or- 
der to  allure  men  thither,  and  to  pervade  the  Earth.  Thefe 
are  only  conjectures,  I  grant;  but  they  rarely  deceive  us 
when  they  are  founded  on  the  wifdom  and  goodnefs  of 
the  Author  of  Nature. 

The  fineft  fpecies  of  corn,  therefore,  which  is  wheat, 
might  be  referred  to  Sicily,  where,  in  faft,  they  pretend  it 
was  originally  found.  Fable  has  immortalized  this  dif- 
coviery,  by  making  that  ifland  the  fcene  of  the  amours  of 
Ceres  ;  as  well  as  the  birth  of  Bacchus,  in  the  Ifle  of  Nax- 
os,  becaufe  of  the  beauty  of  its  vines.  This  much  is 
certain,  that  corn  is  no  where  indigenous  but  in  Sicily,  if, 
however,  it  ftill  reperpetuates  itfelf  there  fpontaneoufly, 
as  the  Ancients  affirm. 

After  having  fletermincd  in  the  fame  manner,  the  other 
human  accommodations  of  the  grafles  to  different  fitua- 
tions  of  ground,  we  might  examine  the  graffes  which  ex- 
hibit marked  relations  to  our  domeftic  animals,  fuch  as 
the  ox,  the  horfe,  the  fheep,  the  dog.  We  might  char- 
afterize  them  by  the  names  of  thefe  animals.  We  fhould 
have  the  gramen  hcvinum,  equinum,  oviniim,  caninum. 
The  dilferenr  fpecies  of  each  of  thefe  genera,  might  af- 
terwards be  diftinguiflied  by  the  names  of  the  different 
places  where  they  are  found  by  the  feveral  animals ;  on 
i\\&  banks  of  rivers,  among  rocks,  on  fands,  on  moun- 
uins ;  fo  that  by  the  addition  of  the  epithets,  JluviatiU^ 


DIVINE  PROVIDE^NXE.  309 

faxatik,  arenofum,  viontanum,  you  might  fupply,  m  two 
words,  all  the  vorbofe  phrafculugy  of  our  botanical  com- 
pofidons. 

We  might  apportion,  in  like  manner,  the  other  graffes, 
to  the   different   quadrupeds  of  our  forefts,  as  to  the  Hag, 
to  the  hare,  to  the   wild  boar,  and  fo  on,     I'hefe  fir  11:  de- 
terminations  would    require    certain   experiments    to   be 
made  on  the  taftes  of  animals,  but  they  would  be  very  in- 
ilruftive,    and  highly    amufmg.     They    would    have   no 
mixture  of  cruelty,  as  moft  of  thofe  of  our  modern  phyf- 
ics  have,  by  which  the  wretched  animal  is  flead  alive,  poi- 
foned,  or  fuffocated,  in  order  to  come  at  the  knowledge 
of  its  propenfities.     Our  experiments  would   fludy  their 
appetites  only,  and  not  their  convulfions.     Befides,  there 
are  a  great  many  of  thofe  preferred  and  rejc8ed  plants, 
already  well   known  to  our  fhepherds.      One  of   them 
fhewed  me,    in  the  vicinity  of  Paris,  a  gramineous  plant, 
which   fattens    (lieep  more  in  a   fortnight,  than  the  other 
fpecies  can  do  in  two   months.     The  moment,  too,  that 
they    perceive    it,    they    run    after    it    with    the    utmolt 
avidity.     Of  this  I  have  been   an  eye  witnefs.     I  do  not 
mean,  however,  to  affert  that  each  fpecies  of  animal  lim- 
its its  appetite  to  a  Tingle  fpecies  of  food.     It  is  quite  fui- 
ficient,  in  order  to   eftablifli   the   order  which  1    am  pro- 
pofing,  that  each  of  them  gives,  in  every  genus  of  plant, 
a  decided  preference  to  fome  one  fpecies;    and  this  is 
confirmed,  beyond  all  doubt,  by  experience. 

The  great  clafs  of  the  gramineous  plants  being  thus  ap- 
portioned to-Man  and  animals,  other  plants  would  prefent 
flill  greater  facility  in  their  appropriations,  bccaufc  they 
are  much  lefs  numerous.  Of  the  fifteen  hundred  and  fif- 
ty fpecies  of  plants,  enumerated  by  Sthajlian  U  Vaillant 
in  the  country  adjacent  to  Paris,  tliere  are  more  than  a 
hundred  families,  among  which  that  of  the  graffes  compre- 
hends, for  its  fliare,  eightyfive  fpecies,  exclufive  of  twen- 
tyfix  varieties,  and  our  different  forts  of  corns.  It  is  the 
jBoft  numerous  next  to  that   of  mufhrooms,  which  con- 


310  A  VINDICATION  of 

tains  a  hundred  and  ten  fpecies,  and  that  of  mofTes,  which 
contains  eightyfix.  Thus,  inllead  of  the  fyftcmatic  claf- 
fification  of  botanic  Writers,  which  gives  no  explanation 
of  the  ufes  of  moft  of  the  vegetable  parts,  which  frequently 
confounds  plants  the  moft  heterogeneous,  and  feparates 
thofe  of  the  fame  genus,  we  fliould  have  an  order  fimple, 
cafy,  agreeable,  and  of  an  infinite  extent,  w^hich  pafling 
from  Man  to  animals,  to  vegetables,  and  to  the  elements, 
would  difcover  to  us  the  plants  which  ferve  to  our  ufe, 
and  to  that  of  other  fenfible  Beings,  would  render  to 
each  of  them  its  elementary  relations,  to  each  fite  on  the 
Earth  its  vegetable  beauty,  and  would  replenifh  the  heart 
of  Man  with  admiration  and  gratitude.  This  plan  ap- 
pears fo  much  the  more  conformable  to  that  of  Nature, 
that  it  is  entirely  comprehended  in  the  benediftion  which 
its  Author  pronounced  upon  our  firft  parents,  faying 
unto  them  :*  *'  Behold,  I  have  given  unto  you  every 
"  herb  bearing  feed,  which  is  upon  the  face  of  all  the 
"  Earth,  and  every  tree,  in  the  which  is  the  fruit  of  a 
"  tree  yielding  feed,  after  its  kind:  To  you  it  fliall  be  for 
*'  meat :  And  to  every  beaft  of  the  Earth,  and  to  every 
"  fowl  of  the  air,  and  to  every  thing  that  creepeth  upon 
*'  the  Earth,  wherein  there  is  life,  1  have  given  every 
*'  green  herb  for  meat." 

This  benediftion  is  not  confined,  as  far  as  Man  is  con- 
cerned, to  fome  primordial  fpecies  in  each  genus.  It  is 
extended  to  the  whole  vegetable  kingdom,  which  converts 
itfelf  into  aliment  fit  for  his  ufe,  by  means  of  the  domef- 
tic  animals.  Linn  a- as  has  prcfcnted  to  them,  from  the 
cicrht  to  the  nine  hundred  plants  which  Sweden  produces, 
and  he  remarked  that,  of  thefe,  the  cow  eats  two  hundred 
and  eightyfix  ;  the  goat,  four  hundred  and  fiftyeight ;  the 
ihecp,  four  hundred  and  feventcen  ;  the  horfe,  two  hun- 
dred and  feventyeight  ;  the  hog,  one  hundred  and  feven. 
The  firfl  animal  refutes  only  one  hundred  and  eightyfour 

♦  GcnefiSj  chap.  i.  ver.  29,  30. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE. 


311 


of  them ;  the  fecond,  ninety  two ;  the  third,  one  hun- 
dred and  twelve ;  the  fourth,  two  hundred  and  feven  ; 
the  fifth,  one  hundred  and  ninety.  In  thefe  enumera- 
tions he  comprehends  only  the  plants  which  thofe  ani- 
mals eat  with  avidity,  and  thofe  which  they  obftinately 
rejeft.  The  others  are  indifferent  to  them.  They  eat 
them  when  necellity  requires,  and  even  with  pleafure, 
when  they  are  tender.  Not  one  of  them  goes  to  wafte, 
Thofe  which  are  rejected  by  fome,  are  a  high  delice  to 
others.  The  moft  acrid,  and  even  the  moft  venemous, 
ferve  to  fatten  one  or  another.  The  goat  browfes  on 
the  ranunculus  of  the  meadow,  though  hot  as  pepper,  on 
the  tithymal  and  the  hemlock.  The  hog  devours  the 
horfetail  and  henbane.  He  did  not  put  the  afs  to  this 
kind  of  proof,  for  that  animal  does  not  live  in  Sweden, 
nor  the  rein  deer,  which  fupplies  the  want  of  him  to  fo 
much  advantage  in  northern  regions,  nor  the  other  domef- 
tic  animals,  fuch  as  the  duck,  the  goofe,  the  hen,  the  pig- 
eon, the  cat  and  the  dog. 

All  thefe  animals  united,  feem  deflined  to  convert  to 
our  advantage  every  thing  that  vegetates,  by  means  of 
their  univerfal  appetites,  and  efpecially  by  that  inexplica- 
ble inflinci;  of  domellicity  which  attaches  them  to  Man  ; 
whereas  no  art  can  communicate  it  either  to  that  timid 
animal  the  deer,  nor  even  to  fome  of  the  fmaller  birds, 
which  feek  to  live  under  our  prote61ion,  fuch  as  the 
fwaliow,  who  builds  her  neft  in  our  houfes.  Nature  has 
bellowed  this  inflin6l  of  fociability  with  Man,  only  on 
thofe  whofe  fervices  might  be  ufeful  to  him  at  all  feafons ; 
and  fhe  has  given  them  a  configuration  wonderfully  adapt- 
ed to  the  different  afpefts  of  the  vegetable  kingdom. 

I  fay  nothing  ol  the  camel  of  the  Arabian,  which  can 
travel  under  a  load,  for  feveral  days  together,  without 
drinking,  in  traveriing  the  burning  fands  of  Zara ;  nor  of 
the  rein  deer  of  the  Laplander,  whofe  deeply  cleft  hoof 
can  fallen,  and  run  along,  on  the  furface  of  the  fnow  ;  nor 
of  the  rhinoceros  of  the  Siamefe  and  of  the  Peguan,  who, 


312  A  VINDICATION  o? 

with  the  folds  of  his  fKiii,  which  he  can  diflend  at  pleaf- 
ure,  is  able  to  difengagehimfelf  out  of  the  marfhy  grounds 
of  Siriam  ;  nor  of  the  Afiatic  elephant,  whofe  foot,  divid- 
ed into  five  ergots,  is  fo  fure  on  the  fteep  mountains  of 
jhe  Torrid  Zone  ;  nor  of  the  lama  of  Peru,  who,  with 
his  forked  feet,  fcrambles  over  the  rocky  heights  of  the 
Cordeliers.  Every  extraordinary  fituation  is  maintain- 
ing for  Man  a  ufcful  and  commodious  fervant. 

But  without  removing  from  our  own  hamlets,  the  fin- 
gle  hoofed  horfe  paflures  in  the  plains,  the  ponderous 
cow  in  the  bottom  of  the  valley,  the  bounding  fhieep  on 
the  declivity  of  the  hill,  the  fcrambling  goat  on  the  fides 
of  the  rocks;  the  hog,  furnifhed  with  a  probofcis,  rakes 
up  the  morafs  from  the  bottom  ;  the  goofe  and  the  duck 
feed  on  the  fluviatic  plants  ;  the  hen  picks  up  every  grain 
that  was  fc-attered  about,  and  in  danger  of  being  loft  in  the 
field  ;  the  four  winged  bee  collcfts  a  tribute  from  the  fmall 
(luft  of  the  flowers  ;  and  the  rapid  pigeon  haftens  to  fave 
from  lofs  the  grains  which  the  winds  had  conveyed  to  in- 
accefhble  rocks.  All  theic  animals,  after  having  occupi- 
ed through  the  day  the  various  fites  of  vegetation,  return 
in  the  evening  to  the  habitation  of  Man,  with  bleatings, 
with  murmurings,  with  cries  of  joy,  bringing  back  to  him 
the  delicious  produce  ot  the  vegetable  creation,  transform- 
ed, by  a  procefs  altogether  inconceivable,  into  honey,  into 
miIk,''rnto  butter,  into  eggs,  and  into  cream. 

I  take  delight  in  reprefenting  to  myfelf  thofe  early  ages 
of  the  World,  when  rnen  travelled  over  the  face  of  the 
Earth,  attended  by  their  flocks  and  herds,  laying  the 
whole  vegetable  kingdom  under  contribution.  The  Sun, 
going  before  them,  in  the  Spring,  invited  them  to  advance 
to  the  fartheft  extremities  of  the  North,  and  to  return 
with  Autumn  bringing  up  his  train.  His  annual  courle 
in  the  fleavcns  feems  to  be  regulated  by  the  progrefs  of 
Man  over  the  Earth.  While  the  Orb  of  Day  is  advanc- 
ing from  the  Tropic  of  Capricorn  to  that  of  Cancer,  a 
traveller  departing  on  foot  from  the  Torrid  Zone,  may 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  305 

f  egelable  kingdom,   inafmuch  as  there  is  not  a  fingle  ge- 
nus of  plants,  varied  into  umbelliferous,  rofe  formed,  pa- 
pilionaceous, and  the  reft,  but  what  prefents  food  to  Man, 
in  fome  part  or  another  of  the  Globe.     The  ciperus  of 
Ethiopia  bears,  at  its  root,  bulbs  which  have  the  tafte  of 
almonds.     That  which  in  Italy  is  called  Trafi  produces 
bulbs  which  tafte  like  cheftnuts,*     We  have  found,  in 
America,  the  potatoe  in  the  clafs  oi  folana,  which  are 
poifons.     It  is  a  jafmine  of  Arabia,  which  fupplies  us 
with  the  coffee  berry.     The  eglantine,  with  us,  produces 
berries  fit  only  for  the  ufe  of  birds ;   but  that  of  the  Land 
of  YefTo,  which  grows   there  among  rocks,  and  the  ftiells 
on  the  fea  fhore,  bears  cups  fo  large  and  fo  nouriftiing, 
that  they  ferve  for  food  to  the  inhabitants  of  thofe  fliores 
for  a   confiderable  part  of  the  year.+     The  ferns  of  our 
hills  are  unprodu6live  ;  but  there  grows  in  North  America 
a  fpecies  of  this  plant,  called  Filix  baccifera,  loaded  with 
berries,  which  are  very  good  to  eat.|  The  treeitfelf  of  the 
Molucca  Iflands,   called    Libbi   by  the  inhabitants,  and 
palm  fago  by  travellers,  is,  in  the  judgment  of  our  Bot- 
anifts,  merely  a  fern.     This  fern  contains  in  its  trunk  the 
fago,   a  fubftance  lighter,   and   more    delicate  than  rice. 
In  a  word,  there  are  even  certain  fpecies  of  fea  weed, 
which  the   Chinefe  eat  with  delight,  among  others,  thofe 
which  compdfe  the  nefts  of  a  fpecies  of  fwallow. 

By  difpofing  in  this  order,  therefore,  the  plants  which 
produce  the  principal  fubfiftence  ot  Man,  as  the  graffes, 
we  ftiould  have,  firft,  for  our  own  country ;  the  wheat  of 
ftrong  lands,  the  rye  of  the  fands,  the  barley  of  the  rocks, 
the  oats  of  humid  places,  the  buck  wheat  of  rainy  decliv- 
ities ;  and  for  other  climates  and  expofures,  the  pannic, 
the  millet,  the  maize,  the  Canadian  oats,  the  rice  of  Afia, 

*  See  the  Catalogue  of  Garden  Plants  of  Boulogne,  by  Hyacinth  Ambr§' 
fino. 

+  Confult  Colle£lion  of  Voyages  by  Thetenot. 

X  See  Father  CliarUvoix^  his  Hiftory  of  New  Fiance^ 

VOL.  II.  P   p 


3<j6  a  vindication  of 

fomc  fpccies  of  which  thrive  in  dry  fituations ;  and  fo  of 
the  re  11. 

It  would  be  farther  ufeful  to  afcertain  on  the  Globe  the 
places  to  ^hich  the  feveral  origin  of  each  alimentary 
plant  might  be  referred.  What  1  have  to  advance  on 
this  fubjetl  may  be  conjeQure  merely,  but  it  appears  to 
me  to  have  an  air  of  probability.  I  am  of  opinion,  then, 
that  Nature  has  placed  in  iflands  the  fpecies  of  plants 
which  are  moft  beautiful,  and  beft  adapted  to  the  necefE- 
lies  of  Man.  Firft,  iflands  are  more  favourable  to  the  el- 
ementary expanfions  of  plants,  than  the  interior  of  con- 
tinertts,  for  there  is  no  one  but  what  enjoys  the  influences 
of  all  the  elements,  being  completely  furrounded  by  the 
winds  and  the  feas,  and  frequently  in  its  interior,  polTeiT- 
ini^  the  combined  advantages  of  plains,  of  fands,  of  lakes, 
of  rocks  and  of  mountains.  An  ifland  is  a  little  world  in 
epitome.  Secondly,  their  particular  temperature  is  fo  va- 
ried, that  you  find  of  them  in  all  the  principal  points  of 
Loncritude  and  latitude,  though  there  be  a  confiderable 
number  ftill  unknown  to  us,  particularly  in  the  South 
Seas.  Finally,  experience  demonftrates,  that  there  is  not 
a  fmgle  fruit  tree  in  Europe,  but  what  becomes  more 
beautiful  in  forae  of  the  iflands  along  its  coafts,  than  in 
the  Continent. 

1  have  fpoken  of  the  beauty  of  the  chellnut  trees  of 
Cor-fica  and  Sicily  :  But  Pliny,  who  has  preferved  to  us 
the  origin  of  the  fruit  trees  which  were  in  Italy  in  his 
time,  informs  us,  that  moft  of  them  had  been  imported 
from  the  i Hands  of  the  Archipelago.  The  walnut  came 
from  Sardinia  ;  the  vine,  the  fig  tree,  the  olive,  and  many 
other  fruit  trees,  were  natives  of  the  other  iflands  of  the 
Mediterranean.  Na)',  heobferves,  that  the  olive  tree,  as  well 
as  feveral  other  plants,  thrives  only  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Sea.  All  modern  travellers  confirm  thefe  obfervations. 
Tavernur,  who  had  fo  many  times  traverfed  the  Afiatic 
Continent,  afl'urcs  us,  that  no  olive  trees  are  to  be  feen  be-> 
yond  Aleppo.     An  anonymous  Englifli  traveller,  whon* 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  507 

I  have  already  quoted  with  approbation,  pofitively  afTerts, 
that  no  where,  on  the  Continent,  arc  there  to  be  found  fig 
irees,  vines,  mulberries,  as  well  as  many  other  fruit  trees, 
once  to  be  compared,  cither  as  to  magnitude  or  fertility, 
with  thofe  of  the  Archipelago,  notwithllanding  the  care- 
leflnefs  and  indolence  of  the  wretched  poffefTors,  To 
thefe  I  might  add  a  great  many  other  vegetables,  which 
thrive  only  in  tliofe  iflands,  and  which  furnilh  to  the 
commerce  of  Europe,  gums,  mannas,  and  dye  ftufFs.  The 
apple  tree,  fo  common  in  France,  produces  no  where 
fuch  fine  fruit,  and  of  fpecies  fo  varied,  as  on  the  (hores 
of  Normandy,  under  the  breath  of  the  fea  breeze  from  the 
Weft.  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  fruit  which  was  propof- 
ed  as  the  prize  of  beauty  had,  like  Vtmis  herfelf,  fome  fa- 
vourite ifle. 

If  we  carry  our  remarks  even  into  the  Torrid  Zone  wie 
ftall  find  that  it  is  neither  from  Afia,  nor  from  Africa, 
that  we  obtain  tlie  clove,  the  nutmeg,  the  cinnamon^  the 
pepper  of  the  beft  quality  ;  the  benzoin,  the  fandal  wood, 
the  fago  and  many  others,  but  from  the  Molucca  Iflands, 
or  from  thofe  which  are  in  the  fame  feas.  The  cocoa 
tree  attains  its  perfeft  beauty  only  in  the  Maldivia  Iflands. 
Nay,  there  are,  in  the  archipelagos  of  thofe  Seas,  a  great 
number  of  fruit  trees  defcribed  by  Da7npier,  which  have 
not  yet  been  tranfplanted  into  the  Old  Continent ;  fuch 
as  the  grape  tree.  The  double  cocoa  is  to  be  found  onlv 
in  the  Sechelles  Iflands.  The  iflands  recently  difcovered 
in  the  South  Sea,  fuch  as  that  of  Ta'iti,  have  prefented  tis 
with  trees  hitherto  unknown,  as  the  bread  fruit,  and  the 
mulberry  tree,  the  bark  of  which  ferves  to  make  cloth. 
As  much  may  be  faid  of  the  vegetable  produftions  of  the 
Iflands  of  America  relatively  to  their  Continent. 

Thefe  obfervations  might  be  extended  even  to  the  verv 
birds  and  quadrupeds,  which  are  more  beautiful,  and  of 
fpecies  more  varied,  in  iflands,  than  any  where  elfc.  The 
elephants  held  in  highefl:  eftiraation  in  Afia,  are  thofe  oi 
the  Ifland  of  Ceylon.     The  Indians  believe  them  to  he 


3o8  A  VINDICATION  of 

pofTeffed  of  fomething  divine  ;  nay,  more,  they  allege, 
that  other  elephants  acknowledge  this  fuperiority.  One 
thing  is  certain,  they  fetch  a  higher  price  all  over  Afia 
than  any  others.  In  a  word,  travellers  the  moft  worthy 
of  credit,  and  who  have  made  the  mofl;  accurate  obferva- 
tions,  as  the  Englifh  Da?npier^  Father  du  Tertre^  and 
fome  others,  afTure  us,  that  there  is  not  a  fhallow  in  the 
feas  lying  between  the  Tropics,  but  what  is  dillinguifhed 
by  fome  fort  of  bird,  of  crab,  of  turtle,  or  of  fiffi,  which 
is  no  where  elfe  to  be  found,  either  of  fpecies  fo  varied, 
or  in  fo  great  abundance.  I  prefume  that  Nature  has 
thus  fcattered  her  choiceft  benefits  over  the  iflands,  in  or- 
der to  allure  men  thither,  and  to  pervade  the  Earth.  Thefe 
are  only  conje6fures,  I  grant;  but  they  rarely  deceive  us 
when  they  are  founded  on  the  wifdom  and  goodnefs  of 
the  Author  of  Nature. 

The  fineft  fpecies  of  corn,  therefore,  which  is  wheat, 
might  be  referred  to  Sicily,  where,  in  faft,  they  pretend  it 
was  originally  found.  Fable  has  immortalized  this  dif- 
covery,  by  making  that  ifland  the  fcene  of  the  amours  of 
Ceres  ;  as  well  as  the  birth  of  Bacchus,  in  the  Ifle  of  Nax- 
os,  becaufe  of  the  beauty  of  its  vines.  This  much  is 
certain,  that  corn  is  no  where  indigenous  but  in  Sicily,  if, 
however,  it  IHll  rcperpetuates  itfelf  there  fpontaneoufly, 
as  the  Ancients  affirm. 

After  having  determined  in  the  fame  manner,  the  other 
human  accommodations  of  the  graffes  to  different  fitua- 
lions  of  ground,  we  might  examine  the  graffes  which  ex- 
hibit marked  relations  to  our  domeflic  animals,  fuch  as 
the  ox,  the  horfe,  the  fheep,  the  dog.  We  might  char- 
a6lerize  them  by  the  names  of  thefe  animals.  We  fhould 
have  the  gramen  hovinum,  equinum,  ovinum,  caninum., 
Mhe  different  fpecies  of  each  of  thefe  genera,  might  af- 
terwards be  diftinguifhed  by  the  names  of  the  different 
places  where  they  are  found  by  the  feveral  animals ;  on 
the  banks  of  rivers,  among  rocks,  on  fands,  on  moun- 
tains ;  fo  that  by  the  addition  of  the  epithets,  Jluviatilc^ 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  309 

Jaxatild,  arenofim,  Diontaniun,  you  might  fupply,  m  two 
words,  all  the  verbofe  phrafeology   of  our  botanical  copj- 

pofitions. 

We  might  apportion,  in  like  manner,  the  otlicr  gralL-s, 
to  the  different   quadrupeds  of  our  forefts,  as  to  the  ftag, 
to  the  hare,  to  the   wild  boar,  and  fo  on.     1  hefe  firil  de- 
terminations   would    require    certain   experiments    to   be 
?nade  on  the  taftes  of  animals,  but  they  would  be  very  in- 
ilruftive,    and  highly    amufing.     They    would    have   no 
mixture  of  cruelty,  as  moft  of  thofe  of  our  modern  phyf- 
ics  have,  by  which  the  wretched  animal  is  flead  alive,  poi- 
foned,  or  fuffocated,  in  order  to  come  at  the  knowledge 
of  its'propenfities.     Our  experiments  would    ftudy  their 
appetites  only,  and  not  their  convulfions.     Befides,  there 
are  a  great  many  of  thofe   preferred  and  rejefted   plants, 
already   well   known  to   our   fliepherds.      One  ot    them 
{hewed  me,   in  the  vicinity  of  Pans,  a  gramineous  plant, 
which   fattens    (heep  more  in  a   fortnight,  than  the  other 
fpecies  can  do  in   two   months.     The  moment,  too,  tiiat 
they    perceive    it,    they    run    after    it    with    the    utmoft 
avidity.     Of  this  I  have  been   an  eye  witnefs.     I  do  not 
mean,  however,  to  aflert   that  each  {pedes  of  animal  lim- 
its its  appetite  to  a  fingle  fpecies  of  food.     It  is  quite  fui- 
ficient,  in  order  to   eftabliih   the   order  which  1    am  pro- 
pofing,  that  each   of  them  gives,  in  every  genus  ot  plant, 
a  decided  preference   to  fome   one  fpecies  ;    and   this   is 
confirmed,  beyond  all  doubt,  by  experience. 

The  great  clafs  of  the  gramineous  plants  being  thus  ap- 
portioned to  Man  ^nd  animals,  other  plants  would  pieicnt 
ftill  greater  facility  in  their  appropriations,  becaulc  they 
are  much  lefs  numerous.  Of  the  fifteen  hundred  and  fif- 
ty fpecies  of  plants,  enumerated  by  Scbaftian  U  lunllant 
in  the  country  adjacent  to  Paris,  there  are  more  than  a 
hundred'families,  among  which  that  of  the  graffcs  compre- 
hends, for  its  fharc,  eightyfive  fpecies,  exclufive  of  twen- 
tyCx  varieties,  and  our  different  forts  of  corns.  It  is  the 
p^p ft  numerous  next  to  that   of  muihrooms,  which  con- 


3,0  A  VINDICATION  of 

tains  a  hundred  and  ten  fpecies,  and  that  of  mofles,  whick 
contains  eightyfix.  Thus,  inflead  of  the  fyftematic  claf- 
fification  of  botanic  Writers,  which  gives  no  explanation 
of  the  ufes  of  moft  of  the  vegetable  parts,  which  frequently 
confounds  plants  the  moft  heterogeneous,  and  feparates 
thofe  of  the  fame  genus,  we  fhould  have  an  order  fimple, 
cafy,  agreeable,  and  of  an  infinite  extent,  which  pafling 
from  Man  to  animals,  to  vegetables,  and  to  the  elements, 
would  difcover  to  us  the  plants  which  ferve  to  our  ufe, 
and  to  that  of  other  fenfible  Beings,  would  render  to 
each  of  them  its  elementary  relations,  to  each  fite  on  the 
Earth  its  vegetable  beauty,  and  would  replenifh  the  heart 
of  Man  with  admiration  and  gratitude.  This  plan  ap- 
pears fo  much  the  more  conformable  to  that  of  Nature, 
that  it  is  entirely  comprehended  in  the  benediftion  which 
its  Author  pronounced  upon  our  firft  parents,  faying 
uBto  them  :*  *'  Behold,  I  have  given  unto  you  every 
*'  herb  bearing  feed,  which  is  upon  the  face  of  all  the 
**  Earth,  and  every  tree,  in  the  which  is  the  fruit  of  a 
•'  tree  yielding  feed,  after  its  kind-:  To  you  it  fhall  be  for 
**  meat :  And  to  every  beaft  of  the  Earth,  and  to  every 
*'  fowl  of  the  air,  and  to  every  thing  that  creepeth  upon 
**  the  Earth,  wherein  there  is  life,  I  have  given  every 
*'  green  herb  for  meat." 

This  benedi6Hon  is  not  confined,  as  far  as  Man  is  con- 
cerned, to  fome  primordial  fpecies  in  each  genus.  It  is 
extended  to  the  whole  vegetable  kingdom,  which  converts 
itfelf  into  aliment  |it  for  his  ufe,  by  means  of  the  domef- 
tic  animals.  Linnceiis  has  prefented  to  them,  from  the 
eight  to  the  nine  hundred  plants  which  Sweden  produces, 
and  he  remarked  that,  of  thefe,  the  co\y  eats  two  hundred 
and  eightyfix  ;  the  goat,  four  hundred  and  fiftyeight ;  the 
fheep,  four  hundred  and  feventeen  ;  the  horfe,  two  hun- 
dred and  fcventyeight ;  the  hog,  one  hundred  and  feven. 
The  firft  animal  refufcs  only  one  hundred  and  eightyfour 

•  GcncGs^  chap,  i,  ver.  29,  30. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  3U 

of  them ;  the  fecond,  ninety  two ;  the  third,  one  hun- 
dred and  twelve ;  the  fourth,  two  hundred  and  feven  ; 
the  fifth,  one  hundred  and  ninety.  In  thefe  enumera- 
tions he  comprehends  only  the  plants  which  thofe  ani- 
mals eat  with  avidity,  and  thofe  which  they  obftinatcly 
rejeft.  The  others  are  indifferent  to  them.  They  eat 
them  when  neceffity  requires,  and  even  with  pleafure, 
when  they  are  tender.  Not  one  of  them  goes  to  wafte, 
Thofe  which  are  rejefted  by  fome,  are  a  high  delice  to 
others.  The  moft  acrid,  and  even  the  moft  venemotfs, 
ferve  to  fatten  one  or  another.  The  goat  browfes  on 
the  ranunculus  of  the  meadow,  though  hot  as  pepper,  on 
the  tithymal  and  the  hemlock.  The  hog  devours  the 
horfetail  and  henbane.  He  did  not  put  the  afs  to  this 
kind  of  proof,  for  that  animal  does  not  live  in  Sweden, 
nor  the  rein  deer,  which  fupplies  the  want  of  him  to  fo 
much  advantage  in  northern  regions,  nor  the  other  domef- 
tic  animals,  fuch  as  the  duck,  the  goofe,  the  hen,  the  pig- 
eon, the  cat  and  the  dog. 

All  thefe  animals  united,  feem  deftined  to  convert  to 
our  advantage  every  thing  that  vegetates,  by  means  of 
their  universal  appetites,  and  efpcciaily  by  that  inexplica- 
ble inftinft  of  domefticity  which  attaches  them  to  Man ; 
whereas  no  art  can  communicate  it  either  to  that  timid 
animal  the  deer,  nor  even  to  fome  of  the  fmaller  birds, 
which  feek  to  live  under  our  protedion,  fuch  as  the 
fwallow,  who  builds  her  neft  in  our  heufes.  Nature  has 
beftowed  this  inftinft  of  fociability  with  Man,  only  on 
thofe  whofe  fervices  might  be  ufeful  to  him  at  all  feafons  ; 
and  fhe  has  given  them  a  configuration  wonderfully  adapt- 
ed to  the  different  afpefts  of  the  vegetable  kingdom. 

I  fay  nothing  of  the  camel  of  the  Arabian,  which  can 
travel  under  a  load,  for  feveral  days  together,  without 
drinking,  in  traverfing  the  burning  fands  of  Zara ;  nor  of 
the  rein  deer  of  the  Laplander,  whofe  deeply  cleft  hoof 
■can  fallen,  and  run  along,  on  the  furface  of  the  fnow  ;  nor 
©f  the  rhinoceros  of  the  Siamefe  and  of  the  Peguan,  who. 


3,2  A  VINDICATION  o? 

with  the  folds  of  his  fkin,  which  he  can  diilend  at  pleaf- 
ure,  is  able  to  difcngage  himfelf  out  of  the  marfhy  grounds 
of  Sii-iam  ;  nor  ot  the  Afiatic  elephant,  whofe  foot,  divid- 
ed into  five  ergots,  is  fo  fure  on  the  fteep  mountains  of 
the  Torrid  Zone  ;  nor  of  the  lama  of  Peru,  who,  with 
his  forked  feet,  fcrambles  over  the  rocky  heights  of  the 
Cordeliers.  Every  extraordinary  fituation  is  maintain- 
ing for  Man  a  ufefnl  and  commodious  fervant. 

But  without  removing  from  our  own  hamlets,  the  fin- 
gle .hoofed  horfe  paflures  in  the  plains,  the  ponderous 
cow  in  the  bottom  of  the  valley,  the  bounding  fheep  on 
the  declivity  of  the  hill,  the  fcrambling  goat  on  the  fides 
of  the  rocks  ;  the  hog,  furnifhed  with  a  probofcis,  rakes 
up  the  morafs  from  the  bottom  ;  the  goofe  and  the  duck 
feed  on  the  fluviatic  plants  ;  the  hen  picks  up  every  grain 
that  was  fcattered  about,  and  in  danger  of  being  lofl  in  the 
fie]d  ;  the  four  winged  bee  collcfts  a  tribute  from  the  fmall 
duft  of  the  flowers ;  and  the  rapid  pigeon  haflens  to  fave 
from  lofs  the  grains  which  the  winds  had  conveyed  to  in- 
accciTible  rocks.  All  thefe  animals,  after  having  occupi- 
ed through  the  day  the  various  fites  of  vegetation,  return 
in  the  evening  to  the  habitation  of  Man,  with  bleatings, 
with  murmurings,  with  cries  of  joy,  bringing  back  to  him 
the  delicious  produce  of  the  vegetable  creation,  transform- 
ed, by  a  procefs  altogether  inconceivable,  into  honey,  into 
milk,'.into  butter,  into  eggs,  and  into  cream. 

I  take  delight  in  reprcfcnting  to  myfclf  thofe  early  ages 
of  the  World,  when  men  travelled  over  the  face  of  the 
Earth,  attended  by  their  flocks  and  herds,  laying  the 
whole  vegetable  kingdom  under  contribution.  The  Sun, 
going  before  them,  in  the  Spring,  invited  them  to  advance 
to  the  fartheft  extremities  of  the  North,  and  to  return 
with  Autumn  bringing  up  his  train.  His  annual  courfe 
in  the  Heavens  feems  to  be  regulated  by  the  progrefs  of 
Man  over  the  Earth.  While  the  Orb  of  Day  is  advanc- 
ing- from  the  Tropic  of  Capricorn  to  that  of  Cancer,  a 
traveller  departing  on  foot  from  the  Torrid  Zone,  may 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  313 

arrive  on  the  fliores  of  the  Frozen  Ocean,  and  return 
thence  into  the  Temperate  Zone,  when  the  Sun  traces 
backward  his  progrefs,  at  the  rate  of  only  four,  or,  at  moft, 
five  leagues  a  day,  without  being  incommoded,  the  whole 
journey  through,  with  either  the  fultry  heat  of  Summer, 
or  the  froft  of  Winter.  It  is  by  regulating  themfelves 
according  to  the  annual  courfe  of  the  Sun,  that  certain 
Tartar  hordes  ftill  travel. 

What  a  fpeftacle  muft  the  virgin  Earth  have  prefented 
to  its  firft  inhabitants,  while  every  thing  was  as  yet  in  its 
place,  and  Nature  not  yet  degraded  by  the  injudicious  la- 
bours, or  the  defperate  madnefs  of  Man  !  I  fuppofe  them 
taking  their  departure  from  the  banks  of  the  Indus,  that 
land  which  is  the  cradle  of  the  Human  Race,  on  a  prog- 
refs northward.  They  firft  croffed  the  lofty  mountains  of 
Bember,  continually  covered  with  fnow,  which,  like  a 
rampart,  encompafs  the  happy  land  of  Cachemire,  and  fep- 
arate  it  from  the  burning  kingdom  of  Labor.*  They  pre- 
fented themfelves  to  their  eyes  like  vaft  amphitheatres  of 
verdure,  clothed,  to  the  South,  with  all  the  vegetables  of 
India,  and,  to  the  North,  with  all  thofe  of  Europe.  They 
defcended  into  the  vaft  bafon  which  contains  them,  and 
there  they  beheld  a  part  of  the  fruit  trees  which  were  def- 
tined  one  day  to  enrich  our  orchards.  The  apricots  ot 
Media,  and  the  peach  trees  of  Perfia,  fkirted,  with  their 
bloffoming  boughs,  the  lakes,  and  the  brooks  of  living  wa- 
ter which  bedew  their  roots.  On  leaving  the  evergreen 
valleys  of  Cachemire,  they  quickly  penetrated  into  the 
forefts  of  Europe,  and  went  to  repofe  under  the  foliage  of 
the  ftately  beech  and  tufted  elm,  which  had  as  yet  fhaded 
only  the  loves  of  the  feathered  race,  and  which  no  Poet 
had  hitherto  fung.  They  croffed  the  boundlefs  meadows 
which  are  wafhed  by  the  Irtis,  refembling  Oceans  of  ver- 
dure, here  and  there  diverfified  with  long  beds  of  yellow 
lilies,  with  ftripes  of  ginzang,  and  tufts  of  broad  leaved 

*  Confult  Bernier'i  Defcrlption  of  the  Mogul  Country, 
VOL.  II.  Q  q 


314  A  VINDICATION  of 

rhubarb.  Following  the  track  of  its  current,  they  plung-' 
ed  into  the  forefts  of  the  North,  under  the  majeftie  branch- 
es of  the  fir,  and  the  moving  foliage  of  the  birch. 

What  fmiling  valleys  opened  to  their  view,  along  the 
river's  fide,  and  invited  them  to  deviate  from  the  road,  by 
promifing  them  obje6is  ftill  more  lovely  !  What  hills  en- 
amelled with  unknown  flowe-rs,  and  crowned  with  ancient 
and  venerable  trees,  endeavoured  to  perfuade  them  to  pro- 
ceed no  farther  !  Arrived  on  the  fhores  of  the  Icy  Sea,  a 
new  order  of  things  arofe  to  view.  There  was  now  no 
more  night.  The  Sun  encompaffed  the  Horizon  round 
and  round  ;  and  the  mifts,  difperfed  through  the  air,  re- 
peated, on  different  planes,  the  luflre  oi  his  rays  in  rain- 
bows  of  purple,  and  parhelions  of  dazzling  radiance.  But, 
if  the  magnificence  of  the  Heavens  wai  multiplied,  defo- 
lation  covered  the  face  of  the  Earth.  The  Ocean  was 
hoary  with  mountains  oi  floating  ice,  which  appeared  in 
the  Horizon  like  towers  and  cities  in  ruin  ;  and  on  the 
land,  nothing  to  be  feen,  in  place  of  groves,  but  a  wretch- 
ed fhrubbery  blafled  by  the  winds,  and  in  (lead  of  verdant 
meads,  rocks  clothed  with  mofs.  The  flocks  which  had 
accompaaied  them  mu ft  there  undoubtedly  have  periflied  ; 
but  even  there  Nature  had  ftill  made  provifion  for  the  ne- 
ccflTities  ot  Man.  Thofe  fliores  were  compofed  of  maffy 
beds  of  coal.*  The  feas  fwarmed  with  fifties,  and  the 
lakes  with  fowls.  They  muft  find,  among  the  animal 
tribes,  fcrvants  and  afliftants  :  The  reindeer  appeared  in 
the  middle  of  the  moffes  :  She  prefented  to  thofe  wan- 
dering families,  the  fervices  of  the  horfe  in  her  agility,  the 
fleece  of  the  fliecp  in  her  fur  ;  and  fliewing  them,  like  the 
coW,  her  lour  teats,  and  but  one  nurfling,  ftie  feemed  ta 
tell  them  that  flie  was  deftined,  like  her,  to  ftiare  her  milk 
with  mothers  oppreffed  by  a  too  numerous  offspring. 

But  the  Eaft  muft  have  been  the  part  of  the  Globe 
which  firft  attrafted  the  attention  of  Mankind.      That 

*  Profcflor  Cmcliti'%  Journey  to  Siberia* 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  315 

place  of  the  Horizon  where  the  Sun  arifes,  undoubtedly 
fixed  their  wondering  eyes,  at  a  period  when  no  fyflem 
had  interpofed  to  regulate  opinion.  On  feeing  that  great 
Luminary  arifing,  irom  day  to  day,  in  the  fame  quarter 
of  the  Heavens,  they  mull  have  been  perfuaded  that  he 
there  had  a  fixed  habitation,  and  that  he  had  another 
where  he  fet,  as  a  place  of  reft.  Such  imaginations,  con- 
firmed by  the  teftimony  of  their  eyes,  were,  it  muft  be 
admitted,  natural  to  men  deftitute  of  experience,  who  had 
attempted  to  ereft  a  tower  which  (Iiould  reach  to  Heaven, 
and  who,  even  in  the  illumination  of  more  fcientific  ages, 
believed,  as  a  point  of  religion,  that  the  Sun  was  drawn  a- 
bout  in  a  chariot  by  horfes,  and  retired  every  evening  to 
repofe  in  the  arms  of  Thetis.  I  prefume,  they  would  be 
determined  to  go  in  queft  of  him  rather  toward  the  Eafl 
than  toward  the  Weft,  under  the  perfuafion  that  they 
would  greatly  abridge  their  labour,  by  advancing  to  meet 
him. 

It  muft  have  been  this  conviftion,  1  am  difpofed  to 
think,  which  left  the  Weft,  for  a  long  time,  in  a  deferted 
ftate,  under  the  very  fame  Latitudes  which,  in  the  Eaft, 
were  fwarming  with  inhabitants,  and  which  firft  fent  men 
in  crowds  toward  the  eaftern  part  of  our  Continent,  where 
the  earlieft  and  moft  populous  Empire  of  the  World,  that 
of  China,  was  formed.  What  confirms  me  farther  in  the 
belief,  that  the  firft  men,  who  advanced  toward  the  Eaft, 
were  engaged  in  this  refearch,  and  were  in  hafte  to  reach 
their  objeft,is  this,  that  having  taken  their  departure  irom 
India,  the  cradle  of  the  Human  Race,  like  the  founders 
of  other  Nations,  they  did  not,  like  them,  people  the  Earth 
progreflively,  as  Perfia,  Greece,  Italy  and  Gaul,  were 
fucceflively,  in  a  wefterly  direction  ;  but  leaving  defert 
the  vaft  and  fertile  countries  of  Siam,  of  Cochinchina, 
and  of  Tonquin,  which  are  to  this  day  half  barbarous  and 
uninhabited,  they  never  gave  up  the  purfuit  till  they  were 
flopped  by  the  Eaftern  Ocean  ;  arid  they  gave  to  the  if- 
lands  which  they  perceived   at  a  diftance,  and  on  which. 


3i6  A  VINDICATION  of 

they  did  not  for  a  long  time,  acquire  the  fkill  to  land,  the 
name  of  Gepuen,  which  we  have  transformed  into  Japan, 
and  which,  in  the  Chinefe  language,  fignifies,  birth  of  the 
Sun. 

Father  Kircher  *  alTures  us,  that  when  the  firft  Jefuit 
Aftronomets  arrived  in  China,  and  there  reformed  the 
Calendar,  the  Chinefe  believed  the  Sun  and  the  Moon  to 
be  no  bigger  than  they  appear  to  the  eye  ;  that,  on  fet- 
ting,  they  retired  to  a  deep  cave,  from  which  they  iffued 
next  day  at  the  time  of  rifmg  ;  and,  finally,  that  the  Earth 
was  a  plane  and  fmooth  furface.  Tacitus,  who  has  writ- 
ten Hiftory  with  fuch  profound  judgment,  does  not  deem 
it  to  be  beneath  him,  in  that  of  Germany,  to  relate  the 
traditions  of  the  wellern  Nations,  who  affirmed,  that  to- 
ward the  Northweft  was  the  place  where  the  Sun  went  to 
bed,  and  that  they  could  hear  the  noife  which  he  made  on 
plunging  into  the  waves. 

It  was  from  the  quarter  of  the  Eaft,  then,  that  the  Orb 
of  Day  firft  attrafted  the  curiofity  of  Mankind.  There 
were,  likewife,  tribes  which  direfted  their  courfe  toward 
that  point  of  the  Globe,  taking  their  departure  from  the 
fouthern  part  of  India.  Thefe  advanced  along  the  penin- 
fula  of  Malacca  ;  and,  familiarized  with  the  Sea,  which 
they  coafted  moft  of  the  way,  they  were  induced  to  form 
the  refolution  of  availing  themfelves  of  the  united  accom- 
modation which  the  two  elements  prefent  to  travellers,  by 
navigating  from  ifland  to  ifland.  They  thus  pervaded 
that  vaft  belt  Oi  iflands,  which  Nature  has  thrown  into  the 
Torrid  Zone,  like  a  bridge  interfered  by  canals,  in  order 
to  facilitate  the  communication  of  the  two  Worlds. 
When  retarded  by  tempefts,  or  contrary  winds,  they  drew 
their  barks  afhore,  caft  a  few  feeds  into  the  ground,  reap- 
ed the  crop,  and  deferred  their  reembarkation  till  fairer 
weather,  and  a  feafon  more  favourable,  encouraged  them 
to  venture  forth. 

»  See  China  illuflratcd,  chap.  ix. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  gi; 

Thus  it  was  that  the  early  mariners  performed  their 
voyages,  and  that  the  Phenicians,  employed  by  Necho^ 
King  of  Egypt,  made  the  circuit  of  Africa  in  three  years, 
departing  by  way  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  returning  by  the 
Mediterranean,  according  to  the  account  given  of  it  by 
Herodotus.* 

The  firft  Navigators,  when  they  no  longer  faw  iflands 
in  the  Horizon,  paid  attention  to  the  feeds  which  the  Sea 
call  upon  the  Ihore  of  thofe  where  they  were,  and  to  the 
flight  of  the  birds  which  were  withdrawing  from  it.  On 
the  faith  of  thefe  indications,  they  direHed  their  courfe 
toward  lands  they  had  never  yet  feen.  Thus  were  difcov- 
ered  the  immenfe  Archipelego  of  the  Moluccas,  the  Iflands 
of  Guam,  of  Quiros,  of  the  Society,  and,  undoubtedly, 
many  others  which  are  ftill  unknown  to  us.  There  was 
not  one  but  what  invited  them  to  land,  by  prefenting  fome 
attraftive  accommodation.  Some  ftretched  out  along  the 
waves  like  Nereids,  poured  from  their  urns,  rills  of  frefli 
water  into  the  Sea  :  It  was  thus  that  the  Ifland  of  Juan 
Fernandez,  with  its  rocks  and  cafcades,  prefented  itfelf 
to  Admiral  Anfon,  in  the  midft  of  the  South  Sea.  Oth- 
ers, on  the  contrary,  in  the  fame  Ocean,  having  their  cen- 
tres funk,  and  their  extremities  elevated,  and  crowned 
with  cocoa  trees,  offer  to  their  canoes  bafons  at  all  feafons 
tranquil,  fwarming  with  fiflies  and  fea  fowls  :  Such  is  that 
known  by  the  name  of  Woeflerland,  or  the  Land  of  Water, 
difcovered  by  the  Dutch  Navigator  Schouten.  Others,  in 
the  morning,  appeared  t^  them,  in  the  bofom  of  the  azure 
main,  all  over  irradiated  with  the  light  of  the  Sun,  as  that 
one  of  the  fame  Archipelago  which  goes  by  the  name  of 
Aurora.  Some  announce  thcmfelves  in  the  darkhefs  of 
night,  by  the  flames  of  a  volcano,  as  a  pharos  blazmg  aloft 
amidft  the  waters,  or  by  the  odoriferous  emanations  of 
their  perfumes. 

There  was  not  one  of  them  of  which  the  woods,  the 
bills,  and  the  downs,  did  not  maintain  fome  animal,  natur- 

*  Kcrodotus,  book  iv. 


3i8  A  VINDICATION  of 

ally  familiar  and  gentle,  but  which  becomes  favage  only 
from  the  cruel  experience  which  it  acquires  of  Man. 
They  faw  fluttering  around  them,  as  they  difembarked  on 
their  ftrands,  the  filken  winged  birds  of  paradife,  the  blue 
pigeons,  the  cacatoes  all  over  white,  the  lauris  all  over  red. 
iLvery  new  ifland  tendered  them  fome  new  prefent ;  crabs, 
fiflies,  ihells,  pearl  oyfters,  lobfters,  turtles,  ambergris  ; 
but  the  raoft  agreeable,  beyond  all  doubt,  were  the  vegeta- 
bles. Sumatra  difplayed,  on  her  fhores,  the  pepper  plant; 
Banda,  the  nutmeg  ;  Amboyna,  the  clove  ;  Ceram,  the 
palm  fago  ;  Flore s,  the  benzoin  and  fandal  wood  ;  New 
Guinea,  groves  of  cocoa  trees  ;  Taiti,  the  bread  fruit. 
Every  ifland  arofe  in  the  midfl:  of  the  Sea,  like  a  vafe 
which  fupported  a  precious  vegetable.  When  they  dif- 
covered  a  tree  laden  with  unknown  fruit,  they  gathered 
fome  branches  of  it,  and  ran  to  meet  their  companions 
with  fhouts  of  joy,  exhibiting  to  them  this  new  benefit  be- 
flowed  by  Nature. 

From  thofe  early  voyages,  and  from  thofe  ancient  cuf- 
toms  it  is,  that  there  has  been  diffufed,  over  all  Nations, 
the  praftice  of  confulting  the  flight  of  birds  before  engag- 
ing in  any  enterprife,  and  that  of  going  to  meet  ftrangers, 
with  the  branch  of  a  tree  in  the  hand,  in  token  of  peace, 
and  of  )oy  at  fight  of  a  prefent  from  Heaven.  Thefe  cuf- 
toms  fl:ill  exifl  among  the  iflanders  of  the  South  Sea,  and 
among  the  free  tribes  of  America.  But  not  fruit  trees  a- 
lone  fixed  the  attention  of  the  firfl:  Men.  If  fome  heroic 
aftion,  or  fome  irreparable  difafler,  had  excited  admira- 
tion, or  infpired  regret,  the  tree  adjoining  was  ennobled 
by  it.  They  preferred  it,  with  thofe  fruits  of  virtue  or 
ot  love,  to  fuch  as  produced  food  or  perfume.  Thus,  in 
the  iflands  of  Greece  and  of  Italy,  the  laurel  became  the 
fymbol  of  triumph,  and  the  cyprefs  that  of  eternal  forrow. 
The  oak  fupplicd  crowns  of  undecaying  honour  to  the  well 
deferving  citizen,  and  Ample  grafl'es  decorated  the  brows 
of  the  men  who  had  faved  their  country.  O  Romans  ! 
people  worthy  of  the  Empire  of  the  World,  in  that  you. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  ^19 

©pened  to  every  one  of  your  fubjefts  the  career  of  virtu- 
ous exertion,  and  culled  the  moft  common  plants  of  th« 
field  to  ferve  as  the  badge  of  immortal  glory,  that  a  crown 
for  the  head  of  virtue  might  be  found  on  every  fpot  of  the 
Globe. 

From  fimilar  attraftions  it  was,  that,  from  ifland  to  if- 
land,  the  Nations  of  Afia  made  their  way  to  the  New- 
World,  where  they  landed  on  the  fhores  of  Peru.  Thith- 
er they  carried  the  name  of  children  of  that  Sun  whom 
they  were  purfuing.  This  brilliant  chimera  emboldened 
them  to  attempt  the  pafTage  to  America.  It  was  not  dif- 
fipated  till  they  reached  the  fhores  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  j 
but  it  difFufed  itfelf  over  the  whole  Continent,  where  moft 
of  the  Chiefs  of  the  Nations  ftill  alTume  the  title  of  Chil- 
dren of  the  Sun.* 


*  I  do  not  mean  to  affirm,  however,  that  America  was  peopled  only 
from  the  iflands  of  the  South  Sea.  I  believe  that  a  paflage  was  opened  into 
it,  likewife,  by  the  North  of  Afia  and  of  Europe.  Nature  always  prefents 
to  Mankind  different  means  for  the  attainment  of  the  fame  end.  But  the 
principal  population  of  the  New  World  came  from  the  iflands  of  the  South 
Sea.  This  1  am  able  to  prove  by  a  multitude  of  monuments  ftill  exifting, 
and  to  the  moft  remarkable  of  which  I  fhall  confine  myfelf.  It  is  demon- 
ftrated,  then,  by  the  worlhip  of  the  Sun,  eftablilhcd  in  India,  in  the  iflands 
of  the  South  Sea,  and  in  Peru,  as  well  as  by  the  title  of  Suns,  or  Children  of 
the  Sun,  affumed  by  many  families  of  thofe  countries  ;  by  the  traditions  of 
the  Caraibs  fcattered  over  the  Antilles,  and  in  Brafil,  who  give  themlelves 
out  as  originally  from  Peru  ;  by  the  very  eftablifhmcnt  of  that  Monarchy  of 
Peru,  as  well  as  that  of  Mexico,  fituated  on  the  weftcrn  coaft  of  America, 
which  looks  toward  the  iflands  of  the  South  Sea,  and  by  the  populoufnefs  of 
their  Nations,  which  were  much  more  confiderable,  and  more  poliflied 
than  thofe  which  inhabited  the  eaftern  coafts,  which  fuppofcs  the  former  to 
be  of  a  much  higher  antiquity  ;  by  the  prodigious  diffufion  of  the  Taitian 
language,  the  dilTerent  dialeds  of  which  are  fpread  over  moft  of  the  iflands 
of  the  South  Sea,  and  of  which  words  innumerable  are  to  be  found  in  the 
language  of  Peru,  as  has  lately  been  proved  by  a  gentleman  of  great  learn- 
ing, and  even  in  that  of  the  Malays  in  Afia,  fome  of  which  I  myfelf  was  able 
to  diftinguifli,  particularly  the  word  mate  which  fignifies  to  kill  ;  by  the 
praftices  common  and  peculiar  to  the  Nations  of  the  Penlnfula  of  Malacca, 
of  the  iflands  of  Afia,  of  thofe  of  the  South  Sea  and  of  Brafil,  which  are  not 
the  infpiratioi4  of  Nature,  fuch  as  that  of  making  fermented  and  intoxicat- 
ing liauors,  and  of  chewing  herbs  and  roots  j  by  the  channels  of  the  com- 


2^0  A  VINDICATION  of 

Mankind,  encompalTed  with  fo  many  bleflings,  contin- 
ues to  be  wretched.  There  is  is  not  a  fingle  genus  of  an- 
imal but  what  lives  in  abundance  and  liberty,  the  greateft 

ixicrce  of  antiquity  which  flowed  in  this  direftion,  fuch  as  that  of  gold, 
■which  was  very  common  in  Arabia  and  in  the  Indies,  in  the  time  of  the 
Romans,  though  there  be  very  few  mines  of  that  metal  in  Afia  ;  but  above 
all^  by  the  trade  of  emeralds,  which  muft  have  run  in  that  track  from  re- 
mote antiquity,  in  order  to  reach  the  Old  Continent,  where  no  mine  of 
that  gem  is  to  be  found.  Hear  what  is  faid  on  this  fubjeft  by  Tavernier, 
who  is  worthy  of  credit  when  he  fpeaks  of  the  commerce  of  Afia,  ef- 
pccially  as  it  relates  to  jewels.  **  It  is  an  error  of  long  {landing,"  fays 
he  ♦'  which  many  perfons  have  fallen  into,  to  believe  that  the  emerald 
**  was  found  originally  in  the  Eaft.  Moft  jewellers,  on  firft  looking  at  a 
**  high  coloured  emerald,  are  accuftomed  to  fay,  this  is  an  Oriental  emer- 
•*  aid.  But  they  are  miftaken,  for  I  am  well  affured,  that  the  Eaft  never 
**  produced  one,  either  on  the  Continent,  or  in  its  iflands.  I  have  made 
**  accurate  enquiries  into  this,  in  all  the  voyages  I  made."  He  had  trav- 
elled fix  times  by  land  through  India.  Hence  it  muft  be  concluded,  that 
the  fo  highly  valued  emeralds  of  the  ancients,  came  to  them  from  America, 
through  the  iflands  of  the  South  Sea,  through  thofe  of  Afia,  through  India, 
the  Red  Sea,  and,  finally,  through  Egypt,  from  whence  they  had  them. 

To  this  may  be  objcfted  the  difficulty  of  navigating  againft  the  regular 
eafterly  winds,  in  order  to  pafs  from  Afia  to  America,  under  the  Torrid 
21ooe  -,  bat,  relatively  to  this  fubjeft,  I  fliall  repeat,  that  the  regular  winds 
do  not  blow  there  from  the  Ea,1,  but  from  the  Northeaft  and  Southeaft, 
and  depend  fo  much  the  more  on  the  two  Poles,  the  nearer  you  approach 
toward  the  Line,  This  oblique  direftion  of  the  wind  was  fufficient  for 
perfons  who  navigated  from  ifland  to  ifland,  and  who  bad  contrived  barks 
the  lead  liable  to  deflcdlion,  fuch  as  the  double  pros  of  the  Ifles  of  Guam, 
the  form  of  which  ieems  to  have  been  preferved  in  the  double  balfes  of 
the  coall  of  Peru.  Sckouten  found  one  of  thofe  double  pros  failing  more 
than  fix  hundred  leagues  from  the  Ifland  of  Guam  toward  America.  Be- 
fides,  it  appears,  likewife,  that  the  South  Sea  has  its  monfoons,  which  have 
not  hitherto  been  obfcrved.  Hear  the  remarks  made,  on  the  variation  of 
thofe  winds,  by  an  anonymous  Englifh  Navigator,  who  failed  round  the 
World,  with  Sir  Jnfeph  Banks  and  Mr.  Sdander^  in  the  years  1768,  1769, 
l77ofand  1771,  page  83.  **  The  inhabitants  of  Otaheite,  trade  with 
**  thofe  of  the  adjacent  iflands  which  lie  to  the  eaftward,  and  which  we 
**  had  difcovered  on  our  pafl'age.  During  three  months  of  the  year,  the 
**  winds  which  blow  from  the  Weji  quarter  are  very  favourable  to  them  for 
**  carrying  on  this  traffic."  Admiral  Anfon  likewife  met  with  winds 
from  the  Weft,  in  thofe  Latitudes,  which  retarded  him. 

Certain  Philofophsrs  explain  the  correfpondencies  to  be  found  between 
the  inhabiian'.s  of  the  iilands  and  thofe  of  Continents,  by  fuppofing  ifiaad? 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  121 

part  without  labour,  all  at  peace  with  their  fpecies,  all  u- 
tiited  to  the  objefts  of  their  choice,  and  enjoying  the 
felicity  of  reperpetuating  themfelves  by  their  families ; 
whereas  more  than  the  half  of  Mankind  is  doomed  to  cel- 
ibacy. The  other  half  curfes  the  bands  which  have  match- 
ed him.  The  greater  part  tremble  at  the  thought  of  rear- 
ing a  progeny,  under  the  apprehenfion  of  being  incapable 
to  find  fubfiftence  for  them.  The  greater  part,  in  order 
to  procure  fubfiftence  for  themfelves,  are  fubje6led  to 
painful  labours,  and  reduced  to  the  condition  of  flaves  to 

to  be  lands  once  united  to  the  Continent,  but  now  fwallowed  up  by  the  O- 
cean   the  fummit  only,  and  a  few  of  the  inhabitants  upon  it,  remaining  a- 
bove  the  water.     But  enough  has  been  already  faid  in  this  Work,  to  evince 
that  maritime  iflands  are  not  fragments  feparated  from  the  Continent,  and 
that  they  have  mountains,  peaks,  lakes,  hills,  proportionable  to  their  ex- 
tent, and  direftcd  to  the  regular  winds  which  blow  over  their  feas.     They 
have  vegetables  peculiar  to  themfelves,  and  which  no  where  elfe  attain  the 
fame  de^^ree  of  beauty.     Farther,  had  thofc  iflands  formerly  conaituted  part 
of  our  Continent,  we  fbould  find  in  them  all  thofe  of  our  quadrupeds  which 
are  to  be  met  with  in  all  climates  ;  there  were  no  rats  nor  mice  in  Ameri- 
ca, and  in  the  Antilles,   previous  to  the  arrival  of  the  Europeans,  if  we  may 
believe  the  teftimony  of  the  Spanilb  Hiftorian  Herrera,  and  of  Father  d\t 
Tertre.     We  (hould,  likewife,  have  found  in  them  the  ox,  the  afs,  the  cam- 
el  ihchorfe,  but  they  contained  none  of  thefc  animals;    but  plenty  of  our 
common  poultry,  ducks,  dogs,  fwine,  as  well  as  among  the  Iflanders  of  the 
South  Sea,  who  themfelves  had  no  other  of  our  domcftic  animals.     It  is  ob- 
vious that  the  firft  animals,  fuch  as  the  horfc  arid  the  cow,  being  of  a  bulk 
attd  weight  too  confiderable,  could  not  poflTibly,  be  their  utility  ever  fo 
great,  crofs  the  feas  in  the  fmall  canoes  of  the  early  Navigators,  who,  on  the 
other  hand,  would  have  been  very  careful  not  to  tranfport  with  them  fuch 
vermin  as  rats  and  mice. 

Finally,  let  us  revert  to  the  general  Laws  of  Nature.  If  all  the  iflands  of 
ibe  South  Sea  once  formed  a  Continent,  there  muft  have  been  no  fea,  then, 
in  the  fpace  which  they  occupy.  Now,  it  is  indubitably  certain,  that  were 
you,  at  this  day,  to  take  away  from  around  them,  the  Ocean  by  wkich  they 
are  cncompaflTed,  and  the  regular  >^'inds  which  blow  over  it,  you  would  blaft 
them  with  fterility.  The  iflands  of  the  South  Sea  form,  between  Afia  and 
America,  a  real  bridge  of  communication,  with  a  few  aichcs  alone  of  whith 
^^•e  are  acquainted,  and  of  which  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  difcoverihe 
reft,  from  the  other  harmonies  of  the  Globe.  But  here  I  reftrain  my  con- 
jeftures  on  this  fubjea.  I  have  faid  enough  to  prove,  that  the  fame  hand 
which  has  covered  the  Earth  with  plants  and  animals  for  the  fcrvice  of  Maa, 
hasn6c  negleftedthe  different  parts  of  his  habitation. 

VOL.  11.  R  r 


gM  A  VINDICATION  oi? 

to  their  fellow  creatures.  Whole  Nations  are  expofcd  t& 
perifh  by  famine  :  Others,  deflitute  of  territory,  are  piled 
a  top  of  each  other,  while  the  greateft  part  of  the  Globe 
is  a  wildernefs. 

There  are  many  lands  which  never  have  been  cultivat- 
ed ;  but  there  is  not  one,  known  to  Europeans,  which 
has  not  been  polluted  with  human  blood.  The  very  fol- 
itudes  of  the  Ocean  gulp  down  into  their  abyfles,  veffels 
filled  with  men,  funk  to  the  bottom  by  the  hands  of  men. 
In  cities,  to  all  appearance  fo  flourifhing  by  their  arts 
and  their  monuments,  pride  and  craft,  fuperftitian  and  im- 
piety, violence  and  perfidy,  are  in  a  ftate  of  inceffant  war- 
fare, and  keep  the  wretched  inhabitants  in  perpetual  a- 
larm.  The  more  that  fociety  is  poliflied  in  them,  the 
more  numerous  and  cruel  are  the  evils  which  opprefs 
them.  Is  the  induftry  of  Man  there  exerted,  only  becaufe 
he  is  there  moft  miferable?  Why  (hould  the  Empire  of 
the  Globe  have  been  conferred  on  the  fingle  animal  which 
had  not  the  government  of  its  own  paflions  ?  How  comes 
it  that  Man,  feeble  and  tranfitory,  fhould  be  animated  by 
paffions  at  once  ferocious  and  generous,  defpicable  and 
immortal  ?  How  is  it  that,  born  without  inflinft,  he  fliould 
have  been  able  to  acquire  fuch  various  knowledge  ?  He 
has  happily  imitated  all  the  arts  of  Nature,  except  that  of 
being  happy.  All  the  traditions  of  the  Human  Race  have 
prcferved  the  origin  pf  thefe  ftrange  contradictions  ;  but 
Religion  alone  unfolds  to  us  the  caufe  of  them.  She  in- 
forms us  that  Man  is  of  a  different  arder  from  the  reft  of 
animals ;  that  his  reafon  perverted  has  given  offence  to 
the  Author  of  the  Univerfe  ;  that  as  a  juil  punifhment, 
he  has  been  left  to  the  direftion  of  his  own  underftand- 
ing ;  that  he  is  capable  of  forming  his  reafon  only  by  the 
iludy  of  univerfal  reafon,  difplayed  in  the  Works  of  Na- 
ture, and  in  the  hgpes  which  virtue  infpires  ;  that  by  fuch 
means  alone  he  can  be  enabled  to  rife  above  the  animal, 
feeneath  the   level  of  which  he  is  funk,  and  to  reafcend, 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  ^^^ 

ikp  by  ftep,  along  the  fteepy  declivity  of  the  celeftial 
mountain  from  which  he  has  been  precipitated. 

Happy  is  he,  in  thefe  dajs,  who,  inftead  of  ramblincr 
over  the  World,  can  live  remote  from  Mankind  !  Happy 
the  man  who  knows  nothing  beyond  the  circumference  of 
his  own  Horizon,  and  to  whom  even  the  next  village  is 
an  unknown  land  !  He  has  not  placed  his  affeftions  on 
objects  which  he  muft  never  more  behold,  nor  left  his  rep- 
utation at  the  mercy  of  the  wicked.  He  believes  that  in- 
nocence refides  in  hamlets,  honour  in  palaces,  and  virtue 
in  temples.  His  glory  and  his  religion  confift  in  commu- 
nicating happinefs  to  thofe  around  him.  If  he  beholds 
not  in  his  garden  the  fruits  of  Afia,  or  the  fhady  groves  of 
America,  he  cultivates  the  plants  which  delight  his  wife 
and  children.  He  has  no  need  of  the  monuments  of  Arch- 
itefture  to  dignify  and  embellifli  his  landfcape.  A  tree, 
under  the  fhade  of  which  a  virtuous  man  is  reclined  to 
reft,  fuggefts  to  him  fubiime  recolleftions  ;  the  poplar 
in  the  foreft  recals  to  his  mind  the  combats  of  Hercules; 
and  the  foliage  of  the  oak  reminds  him  of  the  crowning 
garlands  of  the  CapitoL 


g24  A  VINDICATION  of 


STUDY  ELEVENTH. 


OF  SOME  MORAL  LAWS  OF  NATURE. 


Weaknefs  of  Re af on,  of  Feeling  ;  Proofs  of  the  Divinity 
and  of  the  Immortality  of  the  Soul  from  feeling. 


oUCH  are  the  phyfical  proofs  of  the  exiftence  of  the 
Deity,  as  far  as  the  feeblenefs  of  my  reafon  has  enabled 
me  to  produce  and  arrange  them.  I  have  coUefted,  pei- 
haps,  ten  times  as  many  ;  but  I  perceived  that  I  was,  af- 
ter all,  but  at  the  beginning  of  my  career  ;  that  the  far- 
ther I  advanced,  the  farther  it  extended  itfelf  before  me ; 
that  my  own  labour  would  foon  overwhelm  me;  and 
that,  conformably  to  the  idea  of  Scripture,  nothing 
would  remain  to  me,  after  a  complete  furvey  of  the 
Works  of  Creation,  but  the  moft  profound  aftonifhment. 
It  is  one  of  the  great  calamities  of  human  life,  that  in 
proportion  as  we  approach  the  fource  of  truth,  it  flies  a- 
w ay  from  before  us;  and  that  when,  by  chance,  we  are 
able  to  catch  fom.c  of  its  fmaller  ramifications,  we  are  un- 
able to  remain  conftantly  attached  to  them.  Wherefore 
has  tiie  fentiment  which  yefterday  exalted  me  to  Heaven, 
at  fight  of  a  new  relation  of  Nature — wherefore  has  it  dif- 
appeared  to  day  ?  Archimedes  did  not  remain  always  in  an 
«cftacy,  fpom  the  difcovcry  of  the  relations  of  metals  in 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  325 

the  crown  of  King  Hiero.  He  after  that  made  other  dif- 
<EOverIes  more  congenial  to  his  mind :  Such  as  that  of  the 
cylinder  circumfcribed  within  the  fphere,  which  he  o-ave 
directions  to  have  engraved  on  his  tomb.  Pythagoras  con- 
templated, at  length,  with  indifference,  the  fquare  of  the 
hypothenufe,  for  the  difcovery  of  which  he  had  vowed, 
it  is  faid,  a  whole  hecatomb  of  oxen  to  Jupiter.  I  recoi- 
led that  when  I  firll  became  mafter  of  the  demonflration 
of  thofe  fublimiC  truths,  I  experienced  a  delight  almoft  as 
lively  as  that  of  the  great  men  who  were  the  firll:  invent- 
ors of  them.  Wherefore  is  it  extinguilhed  ?  V/hy  do  I 
this  day  ftand  in  need  of  novelties  to  procure  me  pleaf- 
ure  ?  The  mere  animal  is,  in  this  refpefi,  happier  than  we 
are  :  What  pleafed  him  yefterday  will  likewife  give  him 
pleafure  tomorrow :  He  fixes  for  himfelf  a  boundarv, 
which  he  never  exceeds;  whatsis  fufficient  for  him,  al- 
ways appears  to  him  beautiful  and  good.  The  ingenious 
bee  conftrufts  commodious  cells,  but  never  dreams  of 
rearing  triumphal  arches,  or  obelifks,  to  decorate  her  wax- 
en city.  A  cottage  was  in  like  manner  fufficient  for  Man, 
in  order  to  be  as  well  lodged  as  a  bee.  What  need  had  he 
of  five  orders  of  Architefture,  of  pyramids,  of  towers,  of 
kiofques  ?. 

What,  then,  is  that  verfatlle  faculty,  called  reafon^ 
which  I  employ  in  obferving  Nature  ?  It  is,  fay  the 
Schools,  a  perception  of  correfpondencies,  which  eflen- 
tially  diftinguilhes  Man  from  the  beaft;  Man  enjoys  rea- 
fon,  and  the  beaft  is  governed  merely  by  inftlnft.  But  if 
this  inftinft  .always  points  out  to  the  animal  what  is  bed 
adapted  to  it,  it  is,  therefore,  likewife  a  reafon,  and  a  rea- 
fon  more  precious  than  ours,  in  as  much  as  it  is  invaria- 
ble, and  is  acquired  without  the  aid  of  long  and  painful 
experience.  To  this,  the  Philofophers  of  the  laft  age  re- 
plied, that  the  proof  of  the  want  of  reafon  in  bealls  is  this, 
that  they  aft  always  in  the  fame  manner ;  thus  they  con- 
cluded, from  the  very  pcrfeftion  of  their  reafon,  that  they 
had   none.     Hence  we  may  ffc   to  what    a  GC<Trcc  great 


326  A  VINDICATION  of 

names,  falaries,  and  affociations,  may  give  currency  to 
the  greatefl  abfurdities ;  for  the  argument  of  thofe  Phi» 
lofophers  is  a  direft  attack  on  the  Supreme  Intelligence 
itfelf,  which  is  invariable  in  its  plans,  as  animals  arc  in 
their  inftinft.  If  bees  uniformly  conftruft  their  cells  of 
the  fame  figure,  it  is  becaufe  Nature  always  makes  bees  of 
the  fame  form. 

I  do  not  mean,  however,  to  affirm,  that  the  reafon  of 
beafts  and  that  of  Man  is  the  fame  :  Ours  is,  without  dif- 
pute,  much  more  extenfive  than  the  inflinft  of  each  ani- 
mal in  particular  ;  but  if  Man  is  endowed  with  an  univer- 
fal  reafon,  muft  it  not  be  becaufe  his  wants  are  univerfal  ? 
He  likewife  difcerns,  it  is  true,  the  wants  of  other  ani- 
mals ;  but  may  it  not  be  relatively  to  himfelf  that  he  has 
made  this  his  ftudy  ?  If  the  dog  gives  himfelf  no  concern 
about  the  oats  of  the  horfe,  it  is,  perhaps,  becaufe  the 
horfe  is  not  fubfervient  to  the  wants  of  the  dog. 

We  pofTefs,  notwithftanding,  natural  adaptations  pecu- 
liar to  ourfelves,  fuch  as  the  art  of  agriculture,  and  the  ufe 
of  fire.  The  knowledge  of  thefe,  undoubtedly,  would 
demonftrate  our  natural  fuperiority,  were  it  not,  at  the 
fame  time,  a  proof  of  our  wretchednefs.  Animals  are  un- 
der no  neceffity  to  kindle  fires,  and  to  caft  feed  into  the 
ground,  as  they  are  clothed  and  fed  by  the  hand  of  Na- 
ture ;  befides,  many  of  them  have,  in  themfelves,  facul- 
ties far  fuperior  to  our  fciences,  which  are,  if  the  truth 
were  told,  foreign  to  us.  If  w^e  have  difcovered  fome 
phofphoric  fubllances,  the  luminous  fly  of  the  Tropics 
has  in  itfelf  a  focus  of  light,  which  illuminates  it  during 
the  night.  While  we  are  amufing  ourfelves  in  making 
experiments  on  electricity,  the  torpedo  is  employing  it  in 
felf  defence  :  And  while  the  Academies  and  States  of  Eu- 
rope are  propofing  confiderable  prizes  to  the  perfon  who 
fhall  difcover  the  means  of  determining  the  Longitude  at 
Sea,  the  paillencu  and  the  frigat  are  every  day  perform- 
ino-  a  flight  of  three  or  four  hundred  leagues  between  the 
TropicS;  from  Eaft  to  Well,  without  ever  failing  to  find. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE,  gey 

in  the  evening>  the  rock  from  which  they  took,  their  de- 
parture in  the  morning. 

Another  mortifying  infufficiency  prefents  itfelf,  when 
Philofophy  attempts  to  employ,  in  combating  the  intelli- 
gence of  Nature,  that  very  reafon  which  can  be  of  no  ufe 
but  to  difcern  it.  What  plaufible  arguments,  refpeQing 
the  danger  of  the  paffions,  the  frivolity  of  huma'n  life,  the 
lofs  of  fortune,  of  honour,  of  children  !  You  can  eafily 
unhoufe  me,  divine  Marcus  Aurelius,  and  you  too,  fcep- 
lical  Montagne  ;  but  you  have  not  provided  for  me  anoth- 
er home.  You  put  the  ftaffof  Philofophy  into  my  hand, 
and  fay  to  me,  walk  on  intrepidly ;  make  the  tour  of  the 
World,  begging  your  bread  ;  you  are  juft  as  happy  as  we 
in  our  villas,  with  our  wives,  and  refpefted  by  ail  around. 
But  here  is  an  evil  of  which  you  had  no  forefight.  I  have 
received,  in  my  country,  calumny  only,  as  the  reward  of 
ail  my  fervices ;  I  have  experienced  nothing  but  ingrati- 
tude on  the  part  of  my  friends,  and  even  of  my  patrons  ; 
I  am  folitary,  and  have  no  longer  the  means  of  fubfiftence ; 
I  am  a  prey  to  nervous  diforders;  1  ftand  in  need  of  men, 
but  my  foul  is  troubled  at  the  fight  of  them,  while  I  re- 
fie6l  on  the  fatal  reafons  by  which  they  are  united,  and 
that  there  is  no  poflibility  of  interefting  them,  but  by  flat- 
tering their  paffions,  and  by  becoming  vicious  as  they  are. 
What  good  purpofe  does  it  ferve  to  have  ftudied  virtue  ? 
It  fhudders  at  fuch  recolleclions,  and  even  without  any 
refleftion,  merely  at  the  fight  of  m.en.  The  firft  thing 
that  fails  me  is  that  very  reafon,  on  which  you  defire  mc 
to  lean  forfupport.  All  your  fine  logicks  vaniih,  precifely 
at  the  moment  when  I  have  mo  ft  need  of  them.  Put  a 
reed  into  the  hand  of  a  fick  perfon  :  The  very  firft  thing 
that  will  drop  from  him,  when  attacked  by  a  fit  of  illnefs, 
is  that  fame  reed  ;  and  if  he  ventures  to  reft  his  whole 
weight  upon  it,  moft  probably  it  will  break,  and,  perhaps 
run  through  his  hand.  Death,  you  tell  me,  will  cure 
every  thing ;  but  in  order  to  die,  I  have  no  occafion 
for  all  this  reafoning  ;  befides   I  do  not  drop,  with  the 


328  A  VINDICATION  of 

vigor  of  life,  into  the  arms  of  death,  but  dying  and  reafoil- 
ing  no  longer,  ftill,  however,  feeling  and  fuffering:* 

What  is,  once  more,  that  reafon,  of  which  we  boaft  (6 
triumphantly  ?  As  it  is  nothing  more  than  the  relation  of 
6bje6is  to  our  wants,  it  is  reduced,  then,  to  mere  perfonal 
intercft.  Hence  it  is  that  we  have  fo  many  family  reafons, 
reafons  of  aflbciations,  reafons  of  ftatCj  reafons  of  all 
countries,  and  of  all  ages  :  Hence  it  is,  that  the  reafon  of 
a  young  man  is  one  thing,  and  that  of  an  old  man  anoth- 
er ;  that  the  reafon  of  a  woman  differs  from  that  of  a  her- 
mit, and  a  foldier's  from  a  prieft's.  Every  body,  fays 
the  Duke  de  la  Rochefoucault,  has  reafon  (is  in  the  right.) 
Yes,  undoubtedly,  and  it  is  becaufe  every  one  has  reafon, 
that  no  one  agrees  with  another. 

*  Thus,  Religion  has  greatly  the  fuperiority  over  Philofophy,  in' as 
much  as  it  fiippoits  us,  not  by  our  reafon,  but  by  our  refignation.  She 
would  have  us,  not  on  foot,  and  ftirring  about,— bat  ftretched  on  a  bed  ot 
languifhing  :  Not  on  the  theatre  of  the  World,  but  rcpofing  at  the  fooi- 
flool  of  the  Throne  of  God  ;  not  tormented  with  folicitude  about  futurity, 
Irjt  confident  and  compofed.  When  books,  honours,  fortune  and  friends 
forfake  us,  (he  prcfents  us,  as  a  pillow  for  our  head,  not  the  recolledion  of 
cur  frivolous  and  theatrical  virtues,  but  that  of  our  infufficiency;  and  in- 
Uead  of  the  arrogant  maxims  of  Philofophy,  fhe  demands  of  us  only  calm- 
Bcls,  peace  and  filial  confidence. 

I  muft  make  one  rcllcftion  more  refpefling  this  reafon,  or,  which  a- 
mounts  to  the  fame  thing,  refpefting  this  ingenuity  of  which  we  are  fo 
vain  :  Namely  this,  that  it  appears  to  be  the  refult  of  our  mifcries.  It  is 
very  remarkable,  that  the  Nations  which  have  been  moft  celebrated  for 
their  wit,  their  arts  and  their  induftry,  were  the  mofl  mifcrable  on  the  face 
of  the  Earth,  fiom  their  government,  ihelr  pafTiens,  or  their  difcords.  Read 
the  hiflory  of  the  lives  of  moll  men  who  have  been  dillinguilhed  by  the  fu- 
periority of  thfir  intellcftual  powers,  and  you  will  find  that  they  were  ex- 
tremely mifcrable,  efpecially  in  their  childhood.  One  eyed  perfons,  the 
lame,  tlie  huinp  backed  have,  in  general,  more  wit  than  other  men,  be- 
caufe, froni  being  mor^  difogreeably  conformed,  they  apply  their  reafon- 
ing  powers  toward  obferving  with  more  attention  the  relations  of  Society, 
in  the  view  of  fcreening  themfches  againR  its  opprefTion.  Their  humour, 
it  is  true,  is  commonly  of  the  farcaft:ic  kind,  but  this  character  is  fufhcicntly 
applicable  to  what  padcs  in  the  World  for  wit.  Befides,  it  was^not  Na- 
turc  which  rendered  them  malignant,  but  the  raillery,  or  the  contempt,  of 
ihofe  wiih  whom  thcv  have  lived. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  3^9 

This  fublime  faculty  farther  undergoes,  from  the  firft 
ttioments  of  its  expanfion,  a  fhock  fo  violent,  that  it  is 
rendered,  in  fome  fort,  incapable  of  penetrating  into  the 
field  of  Nature.  1  do  not  fpeak  of  our  methods  and  fyf- 
tems,  which  dilFufe  falfe  lights  over  the  firft  principles  of 
human  knowledge,  by  (hewing  us  truth  only  in  books,  in- 
volved in  machinery,  and  difplayed  on  theatres.  I  have 
faid  fomething  of  thofe  obftacles,  in  the  objeftions  which 
I  have  ventured  to  propofe  againft  the  elements  of  our 
Sciences ;  but  the  maxims  inftilled  into  us  from  our  ear- 
lieft  infancy,  make  a  fortune,  be  the  firft,  are  alone  fuf- 
ficient  to  fubvert  our  natural  rcafon  ;  they  exhibit  to  us 
the  juft  and  the  unjuft,  only  as  they  fland  related  to  our 
perfonal  interefts,  and  to  our  ambition ;  they  ufually  at- 
tach us  to  the  fortune  of  fome  powerful  and  reputable 
corps,  and  render  us,  as  it  ma^  happen,  atheifts  or  devotees, 
debauched  or  continent,  Cartefians  or  Newtonians,  juft  as 
it  afFefts  the  caufe  which  has  become  our  only  moving 
principle. 

Good  caufe,  then,  we  have  to  miftruft  reafon,  as,  from 
the  very  firft  ftep,  it  mifleads  us  in  our  refearches  after 
truth  and  happinefs.  Let  us  enquire,  whether  there  is 
not  in  man  fome  faculty  more  noble,  more  invariable,  and 
of  greater  extent.  Though,  in  profecuting  this  enquiry, 
1  have  to  prefent  only  views  vague  and  indeterminate,  I 
hope  that  men  more  enlightened  than  1  can  pretend  to  be, 
may  one  day  fix  them,  and  carry  them  much  farther.  In 
this  confidence,  with  the  feeble  powers  which  I  polFefs,  I 
am  going  to  engage  in  a  career,  well  worthy  of  the  Read- 
er's moft  ferious  attention. 

Defcartes  lays  this  down  as  the  bafis  of  the  firft  natural 
truths  :  /  think,  therefore  I  exifl.  As  this  Philofopher 
has  acquired  a  very  high  degree  of  reputation,  which  he 
merited,  befides,  by  his  knowledge  in  Geometry,  and  a- 
bove  all,  by  his  virtues,  his  argument  in  proof  ofexiftencc 
has  been  greatly  extolled,  and  dignified  with  the  title  of 
axiom.  But,  if  I  am  not  miftaken,  this  argument  labours 
VOL.  II.  s  f 


330  A  VINDICATION  of 

under  an  eflential  defeft,  in  that  it  has  not  the  generality 
of  a  fundamental  principle  ;  for  it  implicitly  follows,  that 
when  a  man  does  not  think,  he  ceafes  to  exift,  or,  at  leaft, 
to  ha\c  a  proof  of  his  exiflence.  It  follows  farther,  that 
the  animal  creation,  to  which  Defcartcs  denied  the  power 
of  thought,  had  no  proof  that  they  exifted  ;  and  that  the 
greateft  part  of  beings  are  in  a  (late  of  nonexiftence  with 
refpecl  to  us,  in  as  much  as  they  excite  in  us  fimple  fen- 
fations  merely,  of  forms,  of  colours,  and  of  movements, 
without  any  reference  to  thought.  Befides,  the  refults  of 
human  thought  having  been  frequently  employed,  from 
their  verfatillty,  to  fugged  doubts  refpefting  the  exiftence 
of  God,  and  even  of  our  own,  as  was  the  cafe  with  the 
fccptic  Pyrrho  ;  this  reafoning,  like  all  the  operations  of 
ihe  human  underflanding,  falls  under  well  grounded  fuf- 
picion. 

I  fubflitute,  therefore,  in  place  of  the  argument  of  Def- 
cartss,  that  -svhich  folloVs,  as  it  appears  to  me  both  more 
fimple  and  more  general  :  Ifiel,  therefore  I  exijl.  It  ex- 
tends to  all  our  phyfical  fenfations,  which  admonifh  us 
Tnuch  more  frequently  of  our  exiflence  than  thought  does. 
It  has  for  its  moving  principle  an  unknown  faculty  of  the 
foul,  which  I  call  fentiment^  or  mental  feeling,  to  which 
thought  itfclf mud  refer;  for  the  evidence  to  which  we 
attempt  to  fubjctt  all  the  operations  of  our  reafon,  is  itfelf 
rimply.fentiment. 

1  fhali  firft,  make  it  appear,  that  this  myfterious  faculty 
differs  cITentially  from  phyfical  fenfations,  and  from  the 
relations  prcfentcd  to  us  by  reafon,  and  that  it  blends  it- 
felf in  a  maimer  conftant  and  invariable  in  every  thing 
that  we  do  \  fo  that  it  is,  if  I  may  be  allowed  the  expref- 
iion,  human  inftinft. 

As  to  the  difference  of  fentiment  from  phyfical  fenfa- 
tion,  it  is  evident,  that  Jphigema  at  the  altar  gives  us  an 
imprefiion  of  a  very  different  nature  from  that  produced 
by  the  lalle  of  a  fruit,  or  by  the  perfume  of  a  flower  ;  and 
as  to  that  which  diflinguifhcs  it  from  a  proccfs  of  the  un- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  331 

derftanding,  it  is  certain  that  the  tears  and  the  defpair  of 
Clytemnejlra  excite  in  us  emotions  ot  a  very  different  kind 
from  thofe  fuggefted  by  a  fatyr,  a  comedy,  or  even,  if  you 
will,  by  a  mathematical  demonftration. 

Not  but  that  reafon  may  fometimes  ilTue  in  feniimen^, 
when  it  prefents  itfelt  with  evidence  ;  but  the  one  is  only, 
with  relation  to  the  other,  what  the  eye  is  with  relation 
to  the  body,  that  is,  an  intelleftual  vifion  :  Befides,  men- 
tal feeling  appears  to  me  to  be  the  refult  of  Liws  of  Na- 
ture, as  reafon  is  the  refult  of  political  Laws. 

I  fliall  give  no  farther  definition  of  this  obfcurc  princi- 
ple, but  I  fhall  render  it  fufficiently  intelligible,  if  I  am 
fo  happy  as  to  make  it  felt.  And  here  I  flatter  myfclf 
with  fuccefs,  by  firft  flating  an  opposition  between  it  and 
reafon.  It  is  very  remarkable  that  women,  who  are  al- 
ways nearer  to  Nature,  from  their  very  irregularities,  than 
men  with  their  pretended  wifdora,  never  confound  thefe 
two  faculties,  and  diftinguifh  the  firft  by  the  name  of  fen- 
fibility,  or  fentiment,  by  way  of  excellence,  becaufe  it  is, 
in  truth,  the  fource  of  our  moft  delicious  afFeftions.  They 
are  continually  on  their  guard  againft  confounding,  as  raoll 
men  do,  the  underflanding  and  the  heart,  reafon  and  fenti- 
ment. The  one,  as  we  have  feen,  is  frequently  our  work  ; 
the  other  is  ahvays  the  work  of  Nature.  They  differ  fo 
eflentially  from  each  other,  that  if  you  wifh  to  annihilate 
the  intereft  of  a  Work  which  abounds  in  fentiment,  you 
have  only  to  introduce  an  infufion  of  rcafoning. 

This  is  a  fault  which  the  moft  celebrated  Writers  have 
committed,  in  all  the  ages  in  which  Society  comnlctes  its 
reparation  from  Nature.  Reafon  produces  manv  men  gi' 
intelligence  in  ages  pretendedly  poliflied ;  and  fentiment, 
men  of  genius,  in  ages  pretendedly  barbarous.  Reafon 
varies  from  age  to  age,  and  fentiment  is  always  the  fame. 
The  errors  of  reafon  are  local  and  changeable,  but  the 
truths  of  fentiment  are  invariable  and  univerfal.  Reafon 
makes  the  I  Greek,  the  I  Englilhman,  the  I  Turk  ;  and 
fentiment,  the  I  Man,  and  the  I  Divine.  Wc  ifand  in 
need,  at  this  day,  of  commentaries,  in  order  to  underftanai 


338  A  VINDICATION  of 

the  books  of  antiquity,  which  are  the  works  of  reafpri, 
fuch  as  thofe  of  moft  Hiftorians,  and  Poets,  fatyrical  and 
comic,  as  Martial,  Platitus,  Juvenal,  and  even  thofe  of 
the  paft  age,  as  Boileau  and  Moliere ;  but  none  will  ever 
be  neceflary,  in  order  to  be  moved  by  the  fupplications 
of  Priam  at  the  feet  of  Achilles,  by  the  defpair  of  Dido, 
by  the  tragedies  of  Racine,  and  the  lively  fables  of  La  Fon- 
taine. We  frequently  ftand  in  need  of  many  corabina- 
Vtions,  for  the  purpofe  of  bringing  to  light  fome  concealed 
reafon  of  Nature ;  but  the  fimple  and  pure  fentiments  of 
repofe,  of  peace,  of  gentle  melanchaly,  which  fhe  infpires, 
come  to  us  without  effort. 

Reafon,  I  grant,  procures  for  us  pleafures  of  a  certain 
kind ;  but  if  fhe  difcovers   to  us    fome  fmall  portion  of 
the  order  of  the  Uwiverfe,  fhe  exhibits  to  us,  at  the  fame 
time,  our  own  deftru6tion,  attached  to  the  Laws  of  its  pref- 
ervation ;  fhe  prefents  to  us,  at  once,  the  evils  which  are 
paft,  and  thofe  which  are  to  come  ;   fhe  furnifhes  arms  to 
pur  pafTions,  at  the  very  time  when  fhe  is  demonflrating 
to  us  their  infufficiency.     The  farther  that  fhe  carries  us, 
the  more  are  the  proofs  which  fhe  accumulates,   when  we 
come  back  to  ourfelves,  of  our  own  nothingnefs  ;  and,  fo 
far  from   foothing  our  pains  by  her  refearches,    fhe  fre- 
quently aggravates  them  bitterly  by  the  difcoveries  which 
fhe. makes.     Sentiment,  on  the    contrary,  blind  in  its  de- 
fires,  embraces  the   monuments   of  all   countries,    and  of 
all  ages  ;   it  is  foothed  to   a  delicious   complacency,  in  the 
midfl  of  ruins,  of  combats,  and   of  death  itfelf,  in  con- 
templating an  undefcribable  eternal  exiflence  ;  it  purfucs, 
in  all  its  appetites,  the  attributes  of  Deity,  infinity,  extcn- 
fion,  duration,  power,  grandeur  and  glory  ;   it  mingles  the 
ardent  defires  of  thefe  with  all  our  pafTions  ;   it  thus  com- 
municates to  them  a  certain  fublime  impulfe  ;  and,  by  fub- 
duing  our  reafon,  itfelf  becomes  the  moft  noble,  and  the 
moft  delicious  inftinft  of  human  life. 

Sentiment  demonftrates  to  us,  much  better  than  reafon, 
the  fpirituality  of  the  foul  ;   for   reafon   frequently  pro- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  333 

pofes  to  us,  as  an  end,  the  gratification  of  our  groflcife 
paflTions,*  whereas  fentiment  is  ever  pure  in  its  propenG- 
ties.  Befides,  a  great  many  natural  effefts  wliich  efcape 
the  one,  are  under  the  control  oF  the  other  ;  fuch  is,  as 
has  been  obferved,  evidence  itfelf,  which  is  merely  a  mat- 
ter of  feeling,  and  over  which  refleftion  exerciies  no  con- 
ftraint;  fuch,  too,  is  our  own  exiftence.  The  proof  of 
it  is  not  in  the  province  of  reafon  ;  for,  Vv^hy  is  it  that  I 
exift  ?  Where  is  the  reafon  of  it  ?  But  I  feel  that  I  ex- 
ift,  and  this  fentiment  is  fufficient  to  produce  conviction. 
This  being  laid  down,  I  proceed  to  demon  (Irate,  tli^t 
there  are  two  powersf  in  Man,  the  one  animal,  and  the 

*  Liften  to  the  voice  of  reafon,  is  the  incefTsnt  acJmonition  of  our  moral 
Philofophcrs.  But  do  they  not  perceive  that  they  are  putting  us  into  the 
hand  of  our  greateft  enemy  ?   Has  not  every  paflion  a  rcaCon  at  command  ? 

■{•  It  is  from  want  of  attention  to  thoCe  t\vo  povi-ers,  that  fo  many  celebrat- 
ed performances,  on  the  fubjrft  of  Man,  prefent  a  falfe  colouring.  Their 
Authors  fometimes  reprefent  him  to  us  as  a  mctaphyfical  objeft.  You 
■would  be  tempted  to  think,  tlvat  the  phyfical  wants,  which  fiagger  even  the 
Saints,  are  only  feeble  accedories  of  human  life.  They  compofe  it  merely 
of  monads,  of  abftraftions,  and  of  moralities.  Others  difcern  nothing  iu 
man  but  on  animal,  and  diftinguifh  in  him  only  the  coarfeft  grofTnefs  o£ 
fcnfe.  They  never  ftudy  him  without  the  differing  knife  in  their  hand, 
and  whea  he  is  dead,  that  is  to  fay,  v.hen  he  is  man  no  longer.  Others 
know  him  only  as  a  political  individual  :  They  perceive  him  only  througli 
the  medium  of  the  correfpondencics  of  ambition.  It  is  not  Man  that  in- 
tcrefts  them ;  it  is  a  Frenchman,  an  Englifliman,  a  Prelate,  a  Gentlenaaii. 
Homer  is  the  only  Writ-.r,  with  wliom  I  am  acquainted,  who  has  painted 
Man  complete  :  All  others,  the  beft  not  excepted,  prefent  nothing  but  a 
flieleton  of  him.  The  Iliad  of  Homsr,  if  I  may  be  allowed  to  judge,  is  the 
paintingpf  every  Man,  as  it  is  that  of  all  ?Cature.  All  the  pafTions  are  there, 
with  their  contrails  and  their  (hades,  the  mod  inrelleftually  refined,  and 
the  moft  fenfually  grof^.  Achilles  fings  the  praifes  of  the  Gods  to  the  found 
of  his  lyre,  and  tends  the  cookery  of  a  leg  of  mutton  in  a  kettle.  This  lall 
trait  has  given  grievous  offence  to  our  theatrical  v/riteis,  who  deal  in  tho 
compofition  of  artificial  heroes,  namely,  fuch  as  difguife  and  conceal  tlveir 
Jird  wants,  as  their  authors  themfelves  difguife  their  own  to  Society.  All 
the  palTions  of  the  human  breafl  are  to  be  found  in  the  Iliad  :  Furious 
wrath  in  Achilkf,  haughty  ambition  in  Agarnemnon,  patriotic  valour  in  Hec- 
tor-^ in  Nefior,  unimpafTioned  wifdom  ;  in  Ulyffes,  crafty  prudence  ;  calum- 
ny in  Therfites  ;  voluptuoufnefs  in  Paris  ;  failhlefs  love  in  Helen  ;  conju- 
j|al  love  in  Atidrer^acke  \  paternal  affcftion  in  P'tam;  fricndfnip  in  Fct)c- 


334  A  VINDICATION  of 

other  intelleftual,  both  of  an  oppofite  nature,  and  whicli, 
by  their  union,  conftitute  human  life;  juft  as  the  harmo- 
ny of  every  thing  on  the  Earth  is  compofed  of  two  con- 
traries. 

clus  ;  and  fo  on  :  And  bcfidcs  all  this,  a  multitude  of  intermediate  fhadcs 
of  all  thcfc  palTions,  fuch  as  the  inconfidtrate  courage  of  Diomedes,  and  that 
of  .^jax,  who  dared  to  challenge  the  Gods  ihemfelves  to  the  combat :  Then 
the  oppofitions  of  fituation  and  of  fortune  which  detach  thofe  charafters  ; 
fuch  as  «  wedding,  and  a  country  fcftival,  depifted  on  the  formidable  buck- 
ler of  Achilles  ;  the  rcmorfe  of  Helen,  and  the  reftlefs  fclicitude  of  Androm- 
ache;  the  flight  of  Heflor^  on  the  point  ofperifhing  under  the  walls  of 
his  native  city,  in  the  Hght  of  his  people  whofe  only  defender  he  was;  and 
the  peaceful  objefts  prcfented  to  him  at  that  tremendous  moment,  fuch  as 
the  grove  of  trees,  and  the  fountain  to  which  the  Trojan  young  women 
were  accuftomed  to  refort,  to  wa{h  their  robes,  and  where  they  loved  to  af- 
femble  in  happier  days. 

This  divine  Genius,  having  appropriated  to  his  heroes  a  leading  paflion 
of  the  human  heart,  and  having  put  it  in  aftion  in  the  moft  remarkable 
phafes  of  human  life,  has  allotted,  in  like  manner,  the  attributes  of  Gob 
to  a  variety  of  Divinities,  and  has  afTigned  to  them  the  diffeicnt  kingdoms 
of  Nature;  to  Neptune,  the  Ocean  ;  to  Piute,  the  infernal  regions;  to  Juno^ 
the  air;  to  Vulcav,  the  fire  ;  to  Diana,  the  forefts  j  to  Pan,  the  flocks  ;  in  a 
word,  the  Nymphs,  the  Naiads,  nay,  the  very  Hours,  have  all  a  certain  de- 
partment on  the  Earth.  There  is  not  a  fingle  flower  but  what  is  committed 
to  the  fuperintendancc  of  fome  Deity.  It  is  thus  that  he  has  contrived  to 
render  tnc  habitation  of  Man  celeftial.  His  Work  is  the  moft  fublime  of 
Encyclopedias.  All  the  chara61ers  of  it  are  fo  exaftly  in  the  human  heart, 
and  in  Nature,  that  the  names  by  which  he  has  dcfigncd  them  have  become 
immortal.  Add  to  the  roajelty  of  his  plans  a  truth  of  expreflTion,  which  is 
not  to  be  afcribed  alone  to  the  beauty  of  his  language,  as  certain  Giamma- 
rians  pretend,  but  to  the  vaft  extent  of  his  obfervation  of  Nature.  It  is 
thus,  for  example,  that  he  calls  the  Sea  impurpled,  at  the  moment  that  the 
Sun  is  fctting  ;  becaufe  that  then  the  reflexes  of  the  Sun  in  the  Horizon  ren- 
der it  of  that  colour,  as  I  myfelf  liave  frequently  remarked.  Virgil,  y,'ho 
has  imitated  him  clofely,  abounds  in  thcfc  beauties  of  obfervation,  to  which 
Commentators  pay  very  little,  if  any,  attention.  In  the  Gcorgics,  for  in- 
flance,  Virgil  gives  to  the  Spring  the  epithet  of  blvjhing  ;  vcre  rubenti,  fays 
he.  As  his  tranflacors  and  commentators  have  taken  no  pains  to  convey 
this,  any  more  than  a  multitude  of  fimilar  touches,  I  was  long  impreffed 
with  the  belief  ihat  this  epithet  was  introduced  merely  to  fill  up  the  meaf- 
ure  of  the  vcrfe  :  But  having  remarked  that,  early  in  the  Spring,  the 
flioots  and  bi<ds  of  moft  trees  affumcd  a  ruddy  appearance,  previoufly  to 
throwing  out  their  leaves,  I  thence  was  enabled  to  comprehend  what  was 
the  prccife  moment  of  the  ftafen  which  the  Pcct  intended  to  defcribe  by 
vere  rubenti. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  335 

Certain  Philofophers  have  taken  pleafure  in  painting 
Man  as  a  God.  His  attitude,  they  tell  us,  is  that  of  com- 
mand. But,  in  order  to  his  having  the  air  of  command, 
it  is  neceflary  that  other  men  fhould  have  that  of  fubmif- 
fjon,  without  which  be  would  find  an  enemy  in  every 
one  of  his  equals.  The  natural  empire  of  Man  extends 
only  to  animals ;  and  in  the  wars  which  he  wages  with 
them,  or  in  the  care  which  he  exercifes  over  them,  he  is 
frequently  conftrained  to  drop  his  attitude  of  emperor, 
and  to  alTume  that  of  a  flave. 

Others  reprefent  Man  as  the  perpetual  obje£l  of  ven- 
geance to  angry  Heaven,  and  have  accumulated  on  his 
exillence,  all  the  miferies  which  can  render  it  odious  to 
him.  This  is  not  painting  Man.  He  is  not  formed  of  a 
fimple  nature,  like  other  animals,  each  fpecies  of  which 
invariably  preferves  its  proper  charafter ;  but  of  two  op- 
pofite  natures,  each  of  which  is  itfelf  farther  fubdivided 
into  feveral  pafTions,  which  form  a  contraft.  In  virtue 
of  one  of  thefe  natures,  he  unites,  in  himfelf,  all  the  wants, 
and  all  the  pafTions  of  animals  ;  and  in  virtue  of  the  oth- 
er, the  ineffable  fentiments  of  the  Deity.  It  is  to  this  lafl 
inflinft,  much  more  than  to  his  refleftive  powers,  that 
he  is  indebted  for  the  conviftion  which  he  has  of  the  ex- 
illence of  God  ;  for  I  fuppofe,  that  having,  by  means  of 
his  reafon,  the, faculty  of  perceiving  the  correfpondencies 
which  cxifl  between  theobjefts  of  Nature,  he  found  out 
the  relations  which  fubfifl  between  an  ifland  and  a  tree,  a 
tree  and  a  fruit,  a  fruit  and  his  own  wants  ;  he  would 
readily  feel  himfelf  determined,  on  feeing  an  ifland,  to 
look  for  food  upon  it  :  But  his  reafon,  in  fliewing  him 
the  links  of  four  natural  harmonies,  would  not  refer  the 
caufe  of  them  to  an  invifible  Author,  unlefs  he  had  the 
fentiment  of  it  deeply  impreffed  on  his  heart.  It  would 
flop  fhort  at  the  point  where  his  perceptions  flopped,  and 
where  thofe  of  animals  terminate.  A  wolf  which  fhould 
fwim  over  a  river,  in  order  to  reach  an  ifland  on  which 
iie  perceived  grafs  growing,  in  the  hope  of  there  finding 


33^^ 


A  VINDICATION  OF 


fheep  likewife,  has  an  equal  conception  of  the  links  which 
conne6l  the  four  natural  relations  of  the  iflarid,  the  grafs, 
the  (heep,  and  his  own  appetite  :  But  he  falls  not  down 
pro  (Irate  before  the  intelligent  Being-  who  has  eftablilhed 
them. 

Confidcring  Man  as  an  animal,  I  know  of  no  one  to  be 
compared  with  him  in  refpecl;  of  wretchednefs.  Firfl  of 
all,  he  is  naked,  expofed  to  infers,  to  the  wind,  to  the 
rain,  to  the  heat,  to  the  cold  and  laid  under  the  neceflity, 
in  all  countries,  of  finding  himfelf  clothing.  If  his  fkin 
acquires,  in  time,  fufficient  hardnefs  to  refill  the  attacks 
of  the  elements,  it  is  not  till  after  cruel  experiments, 
which  fom.etimes  flay  him  from  top  to  toe.  He  knows 
nothing  naturally,  as  other  animals  do.  If  he  wants  to 
crofs  a  river,  he  muft  firfl:  learn  to  fwim  ;  nay,  he  muft,  in 
Iiis^  infancy,  be  taught  to  walk  and  to  fpeak.*  There  is 
TiO  country  fo  happily  fituated,  in  which  ht  is  not  obliged 
to  prepare  his  food  with  confiderable  care  and  trouble. 
The  banana  and  the  bread  fruit  tree  give  him  between  the 
Tropics,  provifions  ail  the  year  round  ;  but  then  he  muft 
plant  thofe  trees,  he  muft  encloie  them  within  thorny 
fences,  to  prefcrvc  them  from  the  beafts  ;  he  muft  dry 
part  of  the  fruits,  for  a  fupply  during  the  hurricane  fea- 
Ion  ;  and  muft  build  rcpofitories  in  which  to  lay  them  up. 
Bcfides,  thofe  ufeful  vegetables  are  referved  for  certain 
privileged  iflands  alone;  for  over  the  reft  of  the  Earth, 
the  culture  ol  alimentary  grains  and  roots  requires  a  great 
multitude  of  arts  and  preparations.  Suppofe  liim  to  have 
collected  around  him  every  blefTmg  his  heart  can  defire, 
the  love  and  the  pleafure  which  flow  from  abundance, 
avarice,  thieves,  the  incurfions  of  the  enemy,  diflurb  his 
enjoyment.  He  muft  have  laws,  judges,  magazines, 
fortrcffes,  confederacies  and  regiments,  to  prote6l  from 
Without,  and  from  within,  his  ill  fated  cornfield.     Finally, 


*  The  very  name  of  infant  is  derived  from  the  Latin  word  itif^ns^  that  is 
to  fay  CDC  who  caunot  fpcak. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  337 

when  it  is  in  his  power  to  enjoy  with  all  the  tranquillity 
of  a  fage,  languor  takes  poffeflTion  of  his  mind  ;  he  muft 
have  comedies,  balls,  mafquerades,  amufements  to  prevent 
him  from  reafoning  with  himfelf. 

It  is  impofTible  to  conceive  how  a  Nation  could  exift 
with  the  animal  paflions  fimply.  The  fentiments  of  nat- 
ural juftice,  which  are  the  bafis  of  legiflation,  are  not  the 
refults  of  our  mutual  wants,  as  has  been  by  fome  pretend- 
ed. Our  paflions  are  not  retrogreflive  ;  they  have  our- 
felvcs  alone  for  their  centre.  A  family  of  favages,  living 
in  the  midft  of  plenty,  would  be  no  more  concerned  a- 
bout  the  mifery  of  their  neighbours  perifliing  for  want, 
than  we  concern  ourfelves  at  Paris,  that  our  fugar  and  cof- 
fee are  cofting  Africa  rivers  of  tears. 

Reafon  itfelf,  united  to  the  paflions,  would  only  ftimu- 
late  their  ferocity  ;  for  it  would  fupply  them  with  new 
arguments,  long  after  their  defires  were  gratified.  It  is, 
in  moft  men,  nothing  more  than  the  relation  between  be- 
ings and  their  wants,  that  is,  their  perfonal  interefl;.  Let 
us  examine  the  effeft  of  it,  combined  with  love  and  ambi- 
tion, the  two  tyrants  of  human  life. 

Let  us  firft  fuppofe  a  ftate  entirely  governed  by  Love, 
fuch  as  that  on  the  banks  of  the  Lignon,  imagined  by  the 
ingenious  d'Urfeius.  I  beg  leave  to  aflc,  Who  would  be  at 
the  trouble  of  building  houfes  there,  and  of  labouring  the 
ground  ?  Muft  we  not  fuppofe,  that  fuch  a  country  would 
contain  fervants,  whofe  induftry  fhould  compenfate  the  i- 
dlenefs  of  their  mafters  ?  Will  not  thefe  fervants  be  re- 
duced to  the  neceflity  of  abftaining  from  making  love,  in 
order  that  their  mafters  may  be  inceflantly  employed  in 
it  ?  Befidcs,  In  what  manner  are  the  old  people  of  both 
fexes  to  pafs  their  time  ?  A  fine  fpeftacle  for  them  truly, 
to  behold  their  children  always  indulging  in  the  dalliance 
of  the  tender  paflion  !  Would  not  fuch  a  fpeftacle  become 
to  them  a  perpetual  fource  of  regret,  of  ill  humour,  of 
jealoufy,  as  it  is  among  thofe  of  our  own  countjy  ?  Such 
a  government,  in  truth,  were  it  even  in  the  iflands  of  the 

VOL.  II.  T  t 


338 


A  VINDICATION  OF 


South  Sea,  under  the  groves  of  the  cocoa  and  bread  fruit 
tfees,  where  there  was  nothing  to  do  but  to  eat  and  make 
love,  would  foon  be  torn  with  difcord,  and  opprefled  with 
languor. 

But,  on  the  fuppofition  that  the  principle  o\ facial  rea- 
fon  were  to  oblige  every  family  to  labour  each  for  its  ow^n 
fupport,  and  to  introduce  more  variety  into  their  way  of 
living,  by  inviting  to  it  our  arts  and  fciences  ;  it  would 
quickly  accelerate  their  deftruftion.  We  muft  by  no 
means  depend  on  ever  hearing  there  any  of  thofe  afFefting 
dialogues  which  d'Urfeius  puts  into  the  mouth  of  AJlraci 
and  Celadon  ;  they  are  di6lated  neither  by  animal  love, 
nor  by  enlightened  reafon.  Both  of  thefe  employ  a  very 
different  logic*  When  a  lover,  illuminated  there  with 
the  fcience  which  he  had  borrowed  of  us,  wilhed  to  in- 
fpire  his  miftrefs  with  a  mutual  paflion,  if,  however,  it 
were  needful  to  employ  difcourfe  in  order  to  accomplilh 
this,  he  would  talk  to  her  of  fprings,  of  maffes,  of  attrac- 
tions, of  fermentations,  of  the  ele6lric  fpark,  and  of  the 
other  phyfical  caufes  which  determine,  according  to  our 
modern  fyftems,  the  propenfities  of  the  two  fexes,  and  the 
movements  of  the  palTions.  Political  reafons  would  in- 
terpofe,  and  affix  the  feal  to  their  union,  by  ftipulating, 
in  the  melancholy  and  mercenary  language  of  our  con- 
trafts,  for  dowries,  maintenances,  redemptions,  pin  mon- 
ies, pofl;  obits.  But  \ht perfonal  reafon  of  each  contrafting 
party  would  quickly  feparate  them.  As  foon  as  a  man 
faw  his  wife  overtaken  with  difeafe,  he  would  fay  to  her  : 
"  My  temperament  calls  for  a  wife  who  enjoys  health, 
"  and  conftrains  me  to  abandon  you."  She  would  an- 
fwer  him,  undoubtedly,  in  order  to  preferve  confiftency  : 
"  You  do  well  to  obey  the  diftates  of  Nature.  I 
''  fhould,  in  like  manner,  have  looked  out  for  another 
*'  hufband,  had  you  been  in  my  place."  A  fon  would 
fay  to  his  aged  and  declining  father  :  "  You  begot  me  for 
"  your  pleafure,  it  is  time  that  I  fhould  live  for  mine." 
Where  fhould  we  find  citizens  difpofed  to  unite  for  main- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  339 

taining  the  laws  of  fuch  a  Society  ;  the  foldiers  difpofed 
to  meet  death  in  defence  of  it,  and  the  magi  Urate  who 
would  undertake  to  govern  it  ?  I  fay  nothing  of  an  infi- 
nite number  of  other  diforders,  which  iollow  in  the  train 
of  that  blind  and  headftrong  paflion,  even  when  direfted 
by  cool  and  difpaflionate  reafon. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  a  Nation  were  under  the  domin- 
ion of  ambition  folely,  it  would  come  ftill  fooner  to  dc- 
Ilruftion  ;  either  from  external   enemies,  or  by  means  of 
its  own  citizens.     It  is,  firft,   difficult  to  imagine  how   it 
could  be  reduced  to  form,  under  the  authority  of  one  Le- 
giflator  ;   for,  How  can  we  conceive  the  pofhbility  of  am- 
bitious men  voluntarily  fubmitting  to  another  man  ?  Thofc 
who   have  united  them,   as  Romulus^  Mahomet,  and  all 
founders  of  Nations,  have  commanded  attention  and  obe- 
dience only  by  fpeaking  in  the  name  of  the  Deity.    But 
fuppofing  this  union,  by  whatever  means,  accomplifhed, 
Could  fuch  an  affociation  ever  be  happy  ?  Let  Hiflorians 
extol  conquering  Rome  ever  fo  highly.  Is  it  credible  that 
her  citizens  then  deferved  the  appellation  of  fortunate  ? 
While  they   were  fpreading  terror  over  the  Globe,  and 
caufing  floods  of  tears  to  flow,   Were  there  at  Rome  no 
hearts  opprefTed  with  terror,  and  no  eye  overflowing,  for 
the  lofs  of  a  fon,   of  a  father,  of  a  hufband,  of  a  lover  ? 
Were  the  flaves,  who  conftituted  by  far  the  greatefl;  part 
of  her  inhabitants,  w^ere  they  happy  ?  Was   the   General 
of  the  Roman   army  himfelf  happy,  crowned  with  laurels 
as  he  was,  and  mounted  on  a  triumphal  car,  around  which, 
in  conformity   to  a  military  Law,  his  own   foldiers  were 
fmging  fongs,  in  which  his   faults  were  expofed,  to  pre- 
vent his   waxing  proud,  and   forgetting  himfelf  ?    And 
when  Providence  permitted   Paulus  Emilius  to  triumph 
over  a  King  of  the  Macedonians,  and  his   poor  children, 
who  ftretched  out  their  little  hands  to  the  Roman  People, 
to  excite  compaflion,  it  was  fo  ordered,  that  the  conquer- 
or ihould,  at  that  very  feafon,  fufler  the  lofs  of  his  own 


340  A  VINDICATION  of 

children,  that  no  one  man  might  be  allowed  to  triumph 
with  impunity  over  the  tears  of  Mankind. 

This  very  People,  however,  fo  difpofed  to  purfue  their 
Gwn  glory,  through  the  calamities  of  others,  were  obliged, 
in  order  to  diffemble  the  horror  of  it,  to  veil  the  tears  of 
the  Nations  with  the  intereft  of  the  Gods,  as  we  difguife 
with  fire  the  flefh  of  the  animals  which  is  to  ferve  us  for 
food.  Rome,  following  the  order  of  deftiny,  was  to  be- 
come, at  length,  the  capital  of  the  World.  She  armed 
her  ambition  with  a  celejlial  reajon^  in  order  to  render  her 
victorious  over  powers  the  moll  formidable,  and  to  curb 
by  means  of  it  the  ferocity  of  her  own  citizens,  by  inur- 
ing them  to  the  praftice  of  fublime  virtue.  What  would 
they  have  become,  had  they  given  themfelves  up,  without 
reftraint  to  that  furious  inllin61  ?  They  would  have  refem- 
bled  the  favages  of  America,  who  burn  their  enemies  a- 
live,  and  devour  their  flefh  flill  llreaming  with  blood. 
This  Rome  at  laff  experienced,  when  her  Religion  pre- 
fented  no  longer  any  thing  to  her  enlightened  inhabitants, 
except  unmeaning  imagery.  Then  were  feen  the  two  paf- 
fions  natural  to  the  heart  of  Man,  ambition  and  love,  in- 
viting to  a  refidence  within  her  walls,  the  luxury  of  Afia, 
the  corruptive  arts  of  Greece,  profcriptions,  murders,  poi- 
fonings,  conflagrations,  and  giving  her  up  a  prey  to  bar- 
barous Nations.  The  Theutates  of  the  Gauls  then  iflu- 
ing  from  the  forefts  of  the  North,  and  arriving  at  the 
Capitol,  made  the  Roman  Jupittr  to  tremble  in  his  turn. 

Our  reafons  of  Jiate  are,  in  modern  times,  lefs  fublime, 
but  are  not  for  that  lefs  fatal  to  the  repofe  of  Mankind,  of 
which  a  judgment  may  be  formed  by  the  wars  of  Europe, 
which  are  continually  difl;urbing  that  of  the  Globe.  A 
Nation  delivered  up  to  its  paflions,  and  to  fimple  reafons 
of  ftate,  would  fpecdily  accumulate  upon  itfelf  all  the 
miferies  incident  to  humanity  ;  but  Providence  has  im- 
planted in  the  breaft  of  Man  a  fentiment  which  ferves  as 
a  counterbalance  to  the  weight  of  thefe,  by  direfting  his 
de fires  far  beyond  the  obje£is  of  this  World  ;  the  fenti- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  341 

ment  I  mean  is  that  of  theexiftence  of  the  Deity.  Man 
is  not  Man,  becaufe  he  is  a  reafoning  animal,  but  becaufe 
he  is  a  religious  animal. 

It  is  remarked  by  Cicero  and  Plutarch^  tl^at  there  was 
not  a  fingle  people  known  up  to  their  time,  among  whom 
there  were  no  traces  of  religion  to  be  found.  The  fenti- 
ment  of  Deity  is  natural  to  Man.  It  is  that  illumina- 
tion which  St.  John  denominates  the  true  Light,  which 
lighteth  every  Man  that  cometh  into  the  IVorlJ.  I  find 
great  fault  with  certain  modern  Authors,  and  even  feme 
of  them  MifTionaries,  for  having  alTerted,  that  certain  Na- 
tions were  deftitute  of  all  fenfe  of  Deity.  I'his  is,  in 
my  apprehenfion,  the  blacked  of  calumnies  with  which  a 
Nation  can  be  branded,  becaufe  it,  of  courfe,  entirely 
ftrips  them  of  the  exiftence  of  every  virtue  ;  and  if  fuch 
a  Nation  betrays  any  appearance  of  virtue,  it  can  be  only 
under  the  impulfe  of  the  moft  abominable  of  vices,  which 
is  hypocrify  :  For  there  can  be  no  virtue  dillinfi:  from 
Religion.  But  there  is  not  a  fingle  one  of  thofe  incon- 
fiderate  writers,  who  docs  not,  at  the  fame  time,  himfelf 
furnifh  the  means  of  refuting  his  own  imputation  ;  for 
fome  of  them  acknowledge,  that  thefe  very  atheiftical  Na- 
tions, on  certain  days,  prefent  homage  to  the  Moon  ;  or 
that  they  retire  into  the  woods,  to  perform  certain  ceremo- 
nies, the  knowledge  of  which  they  carefully  conceal  from 
flrangers. 

Father  Gobieuy  among  others,  in  his  liiflory  of  the 
Mariannes  Iflands,  after  having  affirmed,  that  their  inhab- 
itants had  no  knowledge  of  any  Deity,  and  difcovered  not 
the  flightefl  idea  of  Religion,  tells  us  immediately  after, 
that  they  praftife  invocation  of  the  dead,  to  whom  they 
give  the  apellation  of  anitis,  whofe  fkulls  they  preferve 
in  their  houfes,  and  to  which  they  afcribe  the  power  of 
controlling  the  elements,  of  clianging  the  feafons,  and  of 
refloring  health  :  That  they  are  perfuaded  of  the  immor- 
tality of  the  foul,  and  acknowledge  a  Paradife  ajid  a  Hell. 


34« 


A  VINDICATION  OF 


Such  opinions  cleaily  deraonftrate  that  they  have  ideas  of 
Deity. 

All  Nations  have  the  fentiment  of  the  exiftence  of  God  ; 
not  that  they  all  raife  themfelves  to  Him,  after  the  man- 
ner of  a  Newton  and  a  Socrates^  in  contemplation  of  the 
general  harmony  of  his  Works,  but  by  dwelling  on  thofe 
of  his  benefits  which  intereft  them  the  moft.  The  Indian  of 
Peru  worfhips  the  Sun;  he  of  Bengal,  the  Ganges,  which 
fertilizes  his  plains  ;  the  black  lolof,  the  Ocean  which 
cools  his  Chores  :  The  Samoi'ede  of  the  North,  the  rein- 
deer which  feeds  him.  The  wandering  Iroquois  demands 
of  the  Spirits,  which  prefide  over  the  lakes  and  the  for- 
efts,  plentiful  fifhingand  hunting  feafons.  Many  Nations 
worfhip  their  Kings.  There  is  not  one  of  them  which,  in 
order  to  render  more  dear  to  men  thofe  auguft  difpenfers 
of  their  felicity,  have  not  called  in  the  intervention  of 
fome  Divinity  forthepurpofeof  confecrating  their  origin. 
Such  are,  in  general,  the  Gods  of  the  Nations  :  But  when 
the  pafTions  interpofe,  and  darken  among  them  this  divine 
inftinft,  and  blend  with  it  either  the  madnefs  of  ambition, 
or  the  feduftion  of  voluptuoufnefs,  you  behold  them 
proftrating  themfelves  before  ferpents,  crocodiles,  and 
other  gods,  too  abominable  to  be  mentioned.  You  be- 
hold them  offering  in  facrifice,  the  blood  of  their  enemies 
and  the  virginity  of  their  daughters.  Such  as  is  the  char- 
acter of  a  People,  fuch  is  its  religion.  Man  is  carried  a- 
long  by  this  celeftial  impulfe  fo  irrefiftibly,  that,  when  he 
ceafes  to  take  the  Deity  for  his  model,  he  never  fails  to 
make  one  after  his  own  image. 

There  are,  therefore,  two  powers  in  Man,  the  one  ani- 
mal, the  other  divine.  The  firft  is  inceflantly  giving  him 
the  fentiment  ot  his  wretchednefs  ;  the  fecond,  conllantly 
awakening  in  him  that  of  his  own  excellence  :  And  from 
their  conflicts  arc  produced  the  varieties  and  the  contradic- 
tions of  human  life. 

3y  means  of  the  fentiment  of  our  wretchednefs  it  is, 
tliat  we  become  rillve  to  every  thing  which  prefcnts  to  i\s 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  343 

the  idea  of  afylum  and  proteftion,  of  eafe  and  accommo-. 
dation.  Hence  it  is  that  moft  men  cherifli  the  thought 
of  calm  retreats,  of  abundance,  and  of  all  the  bleflings 
which  bountiful  Nature  has  provided,  on  the  Earth  to 
fupply  our  wants.  It  is  this  fentiment  which  gave  to 
Love  the  chains  of  Hymen,  in  order  that  man  might  one 
day  find  the  companion  of  his  pains  in  that  of  his  pleaf- 
ures  ;  and  that  children  might  be  enfured  of  the  affiftancc 
of  their  parents.  It  is  this  which  renders  the  warm  and 
eafy  tradefman  fo  eager  after  relations  of  court  intrigues, 
of  battles,  and  dcfcriptions  of  tempcfts,  becaufe  dangers 
external  and  diftant  increafe  internal  happinefs  and  fe- 
curity.  This  fentiment  frequently  mingles  with  the  mor- 
al affeftions  :  It  looks  for  fupport  in  fricndlhip,  and  for 
encouragement  in  commendation.  It  is  this  which  ren- 
ders us  attentive  to  the  promifes  of  the  ambitious  man, 
when  we  are  eager  to  follow  him,  like  (laves,  feduced  by 
the  ideas  of  proteftion  with  which  he  amufes  us.  Thus 
the  fentiment  of  our  wretchednefs  is  one  of  the  moft  pow- 
erful bonds  of  political  fociety,  though  it  attaches  us  to 
the  Earth. 

The  fentiment  of  Deity  impels  us  in  a  contrary  di- 
reftion.*  It  was  this  which  condu6Ied  Love  to  the  altar, 
and  diftated  to  the  lips  of  the  Lover  the  firft  vows  of  fi- 
delity ;  it  devoted  the  firft  children  to  Heaven,  while  as 
yet  there  was  no  fuch  thing  as  political  Law  ;  it  render- 


*  Whenever  any  one  has  loft  this  firft  of  harmonies,  all  the  others  follow 
it.  Does  it  not  well  defcrve  to  be  remarked,  that  all  the  Writings  of  A- 
theifts  are  infuffer-ably  dry  and  uuinterefting  ?  They  fometimes  fill  you 
■with  aftonifhment,  but  never  do  they  touch  the  heart.  They  exhibit  caric- 
atures only,  or  gigantic  ideas.  They  afc  totally  deftitute  of  order,  of  pro- 
portion, of  fenfibility.  I  do  not  exempt  from  this  cenfure  any  one,  except 
the  poem  of  Lucretius.  But  this  very  exception,  as  has  been  faid  before, 
only  confirms  the  truth  of  my  obfcrvation  ;  for  when  this  Poet  wilhcd  to 
pleafe,  he  found  himfclf  under  the  neceftity  of  introducing  Deity,  as  is  evi- 
dent from  his  exordium,  which  commences  with  that  beautiful  apoftrophe  ; 
Alma  Venus,  i3c.  Every  where  elfe,  when  he  fets  about  a  difplay  of  the 
Philofophy  of  £picvrus,  his  infipidity  becomes  abfoluiely  infupportabie. 


344  A  VINDICATION  of 

ed  Love  fublime,  and  Friendfhip  generous  ;  with  one 
hand  it  fuccoured  tlie  miferable,  and  oppofed  the  other  to 
tyrants  ;  it  became  the  moving  principle  of  generofity, 
and  of  every  virtue.  Satisfied  with  the  confcioufnefs  of 
having  deferved  well  of  Mankind,  it  nobly  difdained  the 
rccompenfe  of  applaufe.  When  it  fhewed  itfelf  in  arts 
and  fcicnces,  it  became  the  ineffable  charm  which  tranf- 
ported  us  in  contemplating  them  :  The  moment  it  with- 
drew from  them,  languor  fucceeded.  It  is  this  fentiment 
which  confers  immortality  on  the  men  of  genius  who  dif- 
cover  to  us,  in  Nature,  new  relations  of  intelligence. 

When  thefe  two  fentiments  happen  to  crofs  each  other, 
that  is,  when  we  attach  the  divine  inftinft  to  perifliable 
objefls,  and  the  animal  inftinft  to  things  divine,  our  life 
becomes  agitated  by  contradiftory  paffions.  This  is  the 
caufe  of  thofe  innumerable  frivolous  hopes  and  fears  with 
which  men  are  tormented.  My  fortune  is  made,  fays  one, 
I  have  enough  to  laft  w.^  forever  ;  and  tomorrow  he  drops 
into  the  grave.  How  wretched  am  I  !  fays  another,  I  am 
MW^QXi^  forever  ;  and  death  is  at  the  door  to  deliver  him 
from  all  his  woes.  We  are  bound  down  to  life,  faid  Mz- 
chael  Montaigne,  by  the  mereft  toys ;  by  a  glafs  :  Yes, 
and,  Wherefore  ?  Becaufe  the  fentiment  of  immortality  is 
impreffed  on  that  glafs.  It  life  and  death  frequently  ap- 
pear infupportable  to  men,  it  is  becaufe  they  affociatc 
the  fentiment  of  their  end  with  that  of  death,  and  the  fen- 
tirhent  of  infinity  with  that  of  life.  Mortals,  if  you  wifh  to 
live  happy,  and  to  die  in  compofure,  do  not  let  your  Laws 
offer  violence  to  thofe  of  Nature.  Confider,  that,  at  death, 
all  the  troubles  of  the  animal  come  to  a  period ;  the  crav- 
ings of  the  body,difeafes,perfecutions,  calumnies,  flavery  of 
every  kind,  the  rude  combats  of  a  man's  paffions  withhim- 
felf,  and  with  others.  Confider,  that,  at  death,  all  the  en- 
joyments of  a  moral  being  commence ;  the  rewards  of 
virtue,  and  of  the  flighted:  a6ls  of  juflice  and  of  humanity, 
undervalued,  perhaps,    or   defpifed  by   the   World,   but 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  343 

Which  have,  in  fome  meafure,  brought  us  nearer,  while 
we  were  upon  the  Earth,  to  a  Being  righteous  and  eter- 
nal. 

When  thefe  two  inflinas  unite,  in  the  fame  place, 
they  confer  upon  us  the  higheft  pleafure  of  which  our 
nature  is  fufceptible ;  for,  in  that  cafe,  our  two  natures, 
if  I  may  thus  exprefs  myfelf,  enjoy -at  once.*  1  am  going 
to  trace  a  flight  fl^etch  of  the  combination  of  their-xhar- 
monies ;  after  which  we  fliall  purfue  the  track  of  the  ce- 
leflial  fentiment  which  is  natural  to  us,  as  manifefled  in 
our  moft  ordinary  fenfations. 

Let  me  fuppofe  you  then.  Reader,  difgufted,  and  wea- 
ried out  with  the  diforders  of  Society,  in  fearch  of  fome 
happy  fpot  toward  the  extremity  of  Africa,  on  which  the 
foot  of  an  European  never  alighted.  Sailing  along  the 
Mediterranean,  your  velTel  is  toffed  by  the  violence  of  the 
tempeft,  and  fliipwrecked  upon  a  rock,  juft  as  it  is  begin- 
ning to  grow  dark.  Through  the  favour  of  Heaven  you 
fcramble  fafe  to  land :  You  flee  for  flicker  to  a  grotto, 
rendered  viflble  by  the  glare  of  the  lightning,  at  the  bot- 
tom of  a  little  valley.  There,  retired  to  the  covert  of 
this  afylum,  you  hear,  all  night  long,  the  thunder  roaring 
and  the  rain  defcending  in  torrents.  At  day  break,  you 
difcover  behind  you  an  amphitheatre  of  enormous  rocks, 
perpendicularly  fteep  as  a  wall.  From  their  bafes,  here 
and  there,  ftart  out  clumps  of  fig  trees,  covered  over  with 
white  and  purple  fruit,  and  tufts  of  carobs  loaded  with 
brown  pods  ;  their  fummits  are  crowned  with  pines,  wild 
olive  trees  and  cyprefl'es  bending  under  the  violence  of 
the  winds.  The  echoes  of  thefe  rocks  repeat,  in  the  air, 
the  confufed  howling  of  the  tempeft,  and  the  hoarfe  noife 

.  *  To  thefe  two  inftinfls  may  be  referred  all  the  fenfations  of  life,  which 
frccuently  fecm  to  be  contrad^aory.  For  example,  it  habit  and  novelty  be 
agreeable  to  us,  it  is  that  habit  gives  us  confidence  refpeamg  our  phyfical 
relations,  which  are  always  the  fame  ;  and  novelty  promifes  new  points  of 
view  to  our  divine  indinft,  whxh  is  ever  aiming  at  the  extenfion  of  us  eu. 
joyments. 

VOL.     II.  UU 


.546  A  VINDICATION  of 

of  the  raging  Sea,  perceptible  to  the  eye  at  a  diftance. 
But  the  little  valley  where  you  are,  is  the  abode  of  tran- 
quillity and  repofe.  In  its  mofly  declivities  the  fea  lark 
builds  her  neft,  and  on  thefe  falitary  ftrands  the  mavis  ex- 
perts theceafing  of  the  ftorm. 

By  this  time  the  firfl  fires  of  Aurora  are  lengthening 
over  the   flowery    ftachys,  and  the  violet  beds  of  thyme 
which  clothe  the  fwelling  hillocks.    The  brightening  rays 
difclofe  to  view,  on  the  fummlt  of  an  adjoining  eminence, 
a  cottage  overfliadowed  with  trees.     Out  of  it  ifTue  a  fhep- 
herd,   his  wife  and  his  daughter,   who  take   the  path  that 
leads  to  the  grotto,  with  vafes  and  bafkets  on  their  heads. 
It  is  the  fpe6kcle  of  your  diilrefs  which  attraBs   thefe 
g<yod  people  toward  you.     They  are  provided  with  fire, 
iruits,  bread,  wine,  clothing,  for  your  relief.     They  vie 
with  each   other   in  rendering  you  the  offices  of  hofpital- 
ity.     The  wants  of  the   body   being  fatisfied,  thofe  of  the 
mind  begin  to  call   for  gratification.     Your  eye  eagerly 
wanders  along  the  furface  of  the  deep,  and  you  are  enquir- 
ing within  yourfclf,  ''  On  what  part  of  the  World  am   I 
thrown?"  The    fhepherd  perceives   your  anxiety,  and 
removes  it,  addreffing  you  in  thefe  words  :  *'  That  diftant 
ifland  which  you  fee  to  the  North,  Is  Mycone.     There 
"  is  Delos,  a  little  to  the  left,  and  Paros  diredly  in  front. 
'*  That  in  which  we  are  is  Naxos ;  you  are  on  that  very 
"  part  of  the  ifland  where  Ariadne  was  formerly  abandon- 
*'  ed  by  Tlujtus.    It  was  on  that  long  bank  of  white  fand, 
"  which  projefts  below   into  the  Sea,  that  fhe  palfed  the 
*'  days,   with  hcT  eyes  riveted  on  that  point  of  the  Hori- 
"  zon  v/here  the  velfel  of  her  faithlefs   lover  at   length 
ceafed  to  be  vifible  ;  and  into  this  very  grotto,  where 
you  now  are,  fhe   retired,   at  night,  to  mourn  over  his 
"  departure.     To  the  right,  between  thefe  two  little  hills, 
on  the  top  of  which  you  behold  fome  confufed  ruins, 
flood  a  flourifhing  city,  named  Naxos.     Its  female  in- 
hahitants,  touched  with  the  misfortunes  of  the  daughter 
"  df  Minos,  leforted  hither,  to  look  for  her,  and  to  com- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  34^ 

fort  her.  They  endeavoured,  at  firft,  to  divert  heY  at- 
tention by  amufing  converfation  ;  but  nothing  could 
give  her  plcafure,  but  the  name,  and  the  recollection, 
of  lier  beloved  Thefeus.  Thefe  damfels  then  counter- 
feited letters  from  that  Hero,  breathing  the  tendereft  af- 
feftion,  and  addreffed  to  An^dne.  They  flew  to  deliver 
them  to  her,  and  faid,  Take  comfort,  beautiful  Ariadne. 
Thejeus  will  foon  return  :  Thejeus  thinks  of  nothing 
but  you.  Ariadne,  in  an  extacy  of  delight,  read  the 
letters,  and,  with  a  trembling  hand,  haftened  to  anfwer 
them.  The  Naxian  girls  took  charge  of  her  aiifwers, 
and  promifed  to  have  them  fpeedily  conveyed  to  The- 
feus. In  this  manner  they  amufed  her  grief.  But  when 
they  perceived  that  the  fight  of  the  Sea  plunged  her 
more  and  more  into  melancholy,  they  decoyed  her  into 
thofe  extenfive  groves  which  you  obferve  below  in  the 
plain.  There  they  invented  every  fpecies  of  feftivity, 
that  could  lull  her  fond  regret  to  reft.  Sometimes  they 
fbrmed  around  her  choral  dances,  and  rcprefented,  by 
the  linking  of  their  hands,  the  various  windings  of  the 
labyrinth  of  Crete,  out  ot  which,  by  her  aid,  efcaped 
the  happy  Thefeus  :  Sometimes  they  affeQed  to  put  t© 
death  the  terrible  Minotaur.  The  heart  of  Ariad?ie  ex- 
panded to  the  perception  of  joy,  at  the  fight  of  repre- 
fcntations  which  called  to  her  remembrance  the  power 
of  her  father,  the  glory  of  her  lover  and  the  triumph 
of  her  own  charms,  which  had  repaired  the  defliny  of 
Athens  :  But  when  the  winds  conveyed  to  her  ear, 
through  the  mufic  of  the  tabor  and  of  the  flute,  the 
diftant  noife  of  the  billows  breaking  on  the  fhore  from 
which  Ihe  faw  the  cruel  Thefeus  take  his  departure,  fhe 
turned  her  face  toward  the  Sea,  and  began  to  weep. 
Thus  the  Naxians  were  made  fenfible,  that  unfortunate 
love  can  find,  in  the  very  lap  of  gaiety,  the  means  of 
embittering  its  anguifli ;  and  that  the  recolleftion  of 
pain  is  to  be  loft,  only  by  lofing  that  of  pleafure.  They 
^ndv'avoured,  therefore,  to  remove  Ariadne  from  fcenc? 


345  A  VINDICATION  of 

*'  and  founds  which  were   continually   recalling  the  idea, 
"  of  her   lover.     They    perfuaded  her  to  vifit  their  city, 
"  where  they  provided  for  her  magnificent  banquets,   in 
*'  fuperb  apartments,  raifed  on  columns  of  granite.     Into 
thefe,   no  male  was   permitted   to  enter,  and  no  noife 
from  without  could  make  itfelf  heard.    They  had  taken 
care  to   cover   the  pavement,   the  walls,  the  doors  and 
the  windows,  with  the  richeft  tapellry,  on  which  were 
reprefented   meadows,   vineyards  and  enchanting   foli- 
tudes.     A  thoufand  lamps  and  torches  dazzled  the  eye. 
"  They  made  Ariadne  featherfelf  in  the  midflofthem  on 
"  cufhions;   they  placed  a  coronet  of  ivy,  with  its  black 
*'  cluflers,  upon  her  ^2Lxen  hair  and  around  her  pale  fore- 
head ;   then  they  arranged,  at  her  feet,  urns  of  alabafter 
"  replenif]:ied  with  the  choicell  wines  ;  they  poured  them 
*'  out  into  cups  of  gold,  which  they  prefented  to  her,  fay- 
ing; Drink,  lovely  daughter  of  AiZTZ^i;  this   ifland  pro- 
duces  the  richeft  prefents  of  Bacchus,     Drink,   wine 
"  diffipates  care.     Ariadne,  with  a  fmile,  fufFered  herfelf 
"  to  be  perfuaded.     In   a  little  time,   the  rofes  of  health 
reappeared  on  her  countenance,  and   a  report  was   im- 
"  mediately   fpread  over   Naxos,  that  Bacchus  was  come 
**  to  the  relief  of  the  miHrefs   of  Thefeus,     The  inhabit 
tants,  tranfported  with  joy,  reared  a  temple  to  that  God, 
of  which   you  ftill  fee  fomc  columns  and   the  frpntif- 
piece,  on    that   rock,  in  the  midft  of  the  waves.     But 
wine  only  added  fuel  to  the  love  of  Ariadne.   She  grad- 
ually pined  away,  a  vi61im  to  her  fad  regrets,  and  even 
to  her  fond  hopes.      See  there,  at  the  extremity  of  this 
valley,  on  a  little  hillock,   covered   with  marine  worm- 
*'  wood,  is  her  tomb,  and   her   ftatue  flill  looking  toward 
the  Sea.     You   can    fcarcely   now  diftinguifh  in  it  the 
figure  of  a  female;   but  there  is  even  now  difcernible  i^ 
it  the  relUefs  attitude  of  a  lover.     This  monument,  as 
well  as  every  other  of  the  country,  has  been  mutilated 
by  tune,  and  ftill  more  by  the  hand  of  barbarians  j  but 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  349 

**  the  memory  of  fufFering  \'irtue  is  not,  on  the  Earth,  at 
*'  the  mercy  of  tyrants.  The  tomb  ot  Ariadne  is  in  pof- 
**  feflion  of  the  Turks,  and  her  crown  is  planted  among 
"  the  liars.  As  for  us,  efcaped  from  the  notice  of  the 
"  powers  ot  this  World,  by  means  of  our  very  obfcurity, 
"  we  have,  through  the  goodneis  ot  Heaven,  found  liber- 
*'  ty  at  a  dillance  from  the  Great,  and  happinefs  in  a  def- 
**  ert.  Stranger,  if  you  are  flill  capable  of  being  afTtcled 
**  by  thebleflings  of  Nature,  it  is  in  your  power  to  Ihare 
*'  them  with  us." 

At  this  recital,  the  gentle  tears  of  humanity  trickle 
down  the  cheeks  of  his  fpoufe,  and  of  his  youthful  daugh- 
ter, as  fhe  breathes  a  figh  to  the  memory  of  Ariadne;  and 
I  greatly  doubt,  whether  an  Atheifl  himfelf,  who  acknowl- 
edges nothing  elfe  in  Nature  but  the  Laws  of  matter  and 
of  motion,  could  be  infenfible  to  thofe  prefent  correfpond- 
encies,  and  thofe  ancient  recollections. 

Voluptuous  men  !  Greece  alone,  you  tell  me,  prefents 
fcenes  and  points  of  view  fo  tenderly  affettmg.  Ariadne^ 
accordingly,  has  a  place  in  every  garden  ;  Ariadne  pre- 
fents herfelf  to  view  in  every  colleftion  of  painting.  From 
the  turret  of  your  own  caftle,  thrgw  your  eye  over  the 
plains  below.  As  the  profpeft  gradually  extends,  it  ter- 
minates in  a  Horizon  much  more  beautiful  than  thofe  §f 
defolated  Greece.  Your  apartment  is  more  commodioiis 
than  a  grotto,  and  your  fophas  much  fofter  than  the  turf. 
The  undulation,  and  the  murmuring  found  of  your  flow- 
ery m.eadows  are  more  grateful  to  the  fenfe  than  tliofe  of 
the  billows  of  the  Mediterranean.  Your  money  and  your 
own  gardens  can  fupply  you  with  greater  variety  of  the 
choicell  wines  and  fruits  than  all  the  iflands  of  the  Archi- 
pelago could  produce.  Vv^ould  you  blend  -with  thefe  de- 
lights that  of  Deity  ?  Behold  on  yonder  hill,  that  fm.ail 
parifh  church,  encircled  by  aged  elms.  Amiong  the  young 
wom^en  who  there  affemble,  under  its  ruflic  portico,  there 
|r.ay  be,  undoubtedly,  fome  forlorn   Ariadne,  betrayed  by 


350  A  VINDICATION  or 

a  faithlefs  lover.*  She  is  not  iPiade  of  in^ble,  but  oi' 
living  flefii  and  blood  ;  (he  is  not  a  Greek,  but  a  French 
woman;  fhe  is  not  comforted,  but  infultcd  by  her  com- 
panions. Vifit  her  humble  abode,  and  foothe  lier  anguifh. 
Do  good  in  this  life,  which  is  palling  away  with  the  ra- 
pidity of  a  torrent.  Do  good,  not  out  of  oilentation,  and 
by  the  hands  of  a  flrangcr ;  but  for  the  fake  of  Heaven, 
and  with  your  ov.-n  hand.  The  fruit  of  virtue  lofes  its 
flavour,  when  gathered  by  another,  and  not  yourfeif.  Ah  ! 
if  you  would,  in  perfon,  {peak  an  encouraging  word  to 
her,  under  that  load  of  deprefTion ;  if,  by  your  fympathy, 
you  raife  her  in  her  own  efleem,  you  will  perceive  how, 
under  a  fenfe  of  your  goodnefs,  her  forehead  is  over- 
fpread  with  a  bluih,  her  eyes  fuffufed  with  tears,  her  con- 
vulnve  lips  move  without  fpeaking,  and  her  heart,  long 
oppreflcd  with  fhame,  expand  to  the  approach  of  a  com- 
forter, ^s  to  the  fentiment  of  the  Deity.  You  will  then 
perceive,  in  the  human  figure,  touches  far  beyond  the 
reach  of  the  chifels  of  Greece,  and  the  pencil  of  a  Van 
Dyk.     The  felicity  of  an  unfortunate  young  woman  will 

*  There  arc,  in  cur  own  plains,  young  females  much  more  refpeftablc 
tnan  Ariadne^  to  whom  our  Hiltorians,  who  make  fuch  a  parade  of  virtae, 
pay  no  manner  of  attention.  A.  perfon  of  my  acquaintance  obfervcd  one 
Sunday,  at  the  gate  of  a  country  church,  a  young  woman  at  prayer,  quite 
alone,  while  they  were  chanting  vefpers  within.  As  he  remained  fomc 
time  in  the  place,  he  obfervcd,  for  fcverel  Sundays  fucceflTively,  that  fame 
young  AVomaii,  who  never  once  entered  the  church  during  the  fervice. 
Being  migi-.tily  ftruck.  with  this  rm;5ul3rity  of  behaviour,  he  enquired  into 
the  meaning  of  it  of  fome  others  of  the  female  peafants,  who  anfwcred  him, 
that  it  rsiult  be  her  own  will  merely  that  determined  her  to  ftop  at  the 
porch,  as  they  knew  of  nothing  that  Ihould  prevent  her  going  in,  adding, 
that  they  had  frequently  ur^cd  her  to  accompany  tht-m,  but  in  vain.  At 
laft,  defirous  of  having  the  foliilion  of  this  myflery,  hcaddrelTed  himfelf  to 
the  young  woman  herfclf,  whofe  conduft  appeared  to  him  fo  very  extraor- 
dinary. She  appeared,  at  fiift,  fome-.vhat  disconcerted,  but  prefently  col- 
J-aing  courage,  '«  Sir,"  fald  fiic,  "  I  had  a  lover  who  took  advantage  of 
•'  my  frailty.  1  became  piegnsnt,  and  my  lover  falling  fick,  died,  wiih- 
«*  out  making  me  his  wife.  It  is  my  dcfirc,  that  a  voluntary  exciufion 
*■•  from  ch.Mch  for  life  fliould  fcrve  as  fomc  atQGcmei»t  for  my  -fault,  an(^ 
*•  2S  a  v.ainiog  to  xvi)-  ompanions,"' 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  351 

coft  you  much  Icfs  than  the  ftaiuc  of  Ariadne:  And  in- 
ftead  of  giving  celebrity  to  the  name  of  an  artift  in  your 
hotel,  for  a  few  years,  this  v;ill  immortalize  )'our  own, 
and  caufe  it  to  laft,  long  after  ycu  are  gone  from  hence, 
every  time  (he  fays  to  her  companions  and  to  her  chil- 
dren :  ''  It  was  a  God,  who  came  to  fuccour  me  in  the 
*'  day  of  my  diflrefs." 

We  now  proceed  to  trace  the  inftinfl  of  Divinity  in 
our  phyhcal  fenfations,  and  fiiail  conclude  this  Study,  by 
the  fentiraeats  of  the  foul  which  are  purely  intelle6lual. 
Thus  we  Ihall  attempt  to  convey  a  faint  idea  of  the  na- 
ture of  Man. 


OF  PHYSICAL  SENSATIONS. 


All  the  phyfical  fenfations  are,  in  themfelves,  {o  many 
teftimonies  of  our  mifery.  If  man  is  fo  fenfible  to  the 
pleafure  ot  the  touch,  it  is  becaufe  he  is  naked  all  his 
body  over.  He  is  under  the  neceffity,  in  order  to  clothe 
himfelf,  of  ftripping  the  quadruped,  the  plant,  and  the 
worm.  If  almofi:  all  vegetables  and  animals  are  laid  un- 
der contribution  to  fupply  him  with  food,  it  is  becaufe  he 
is  obliged  to  employ  a  great  deal  of  cookery,  and  many 
combinations,  in  preparing-,  his  aliments.  Nature  has 
treated  him  with  much  feverity;  for  he  is  the  only  one 
of  animals,  for-  the  wants  o-f  which  flie  has  made  no  im- 
mediate provifion.  Our  philofophers  have  not  fulhcient- 
ly  reflefted  on  this  perplexing  d.'ffin6lion.  How  !  a 
Worm  provided  with  its  auger  or  its  file;  he  enters  into 
life  in  themidfl.  of  a  profufionof  fruit  proper  for  his  fub- 
fiflence;  he,  by  and  by,  finds  in  himfelf  the  means  of 
fpinning  and  weaving  his  own  garment ;  after  that,  he 
transforms  himfelf  into  a  gaudy  butterfly,  who  ranges  un- 
centrolcd,  abandcning  hii?iffr;lf  t«  all  the  delights  of  iove, 


352  A  VINDICATION  of 

and  rep^rpetuating  his  Ipecies  without  anxiety  and  wi^h^ 
out  remorfe  ;  whereas  the  fon  of  a  King  is  born  complete- 
ly naked,  amidft  tears  and  groans,  Handing  in  need,  all 
his  life  long,  of  the  alTiftance  of  another  ;  under  the  ne- 
ceflity  of  maintaining  an  unremitting  conflift  with  his  own 
fpecies,  from  within,  or  Irom  without,  and  frequently 
finding  in  himfelf  his  moft  formidable  enemy !  Of  a 
truth,  unlefs  we  are  all  the  children  of  dull,  it  would  be 
a  thoufand  times  better  to  enter  upon  exiftence  under  the 
form  of  an  infeft,  than  under  that  of  an  Emperor.  But 
Man  has  been  abandoned  to  the  moll  abjeft  mifery,  only 
that  he  may  have  uninterrupted  recourfe  to  the  firft  of 
powers. 


Of  the  Scnfe  ofTaJling, 


There  is  no  one  phyHcal  fenfation  but  what  awakens  in 
Man  fome  fentiment  of  the  Deity. 

To  begin  with  the  grofTeft  of  all  our  fenfes,  that  which 
relates  to  eating  and  drinking;  all  Nations,  in  the  favage 
ftate,  have  entertained  the  belief  that  the  Divinity  had 
need  to  fupport  his  life,  by  the  fame  means  that  men  do  i 
Hence,  in  all  religions,  the  origin  of  facrifice.  Hence, 
al fo,  has  larther  proceeded,  in  many  Nations,  the  cuftom 
of  placing  viands  on  the  tombs  of  the  dead.  The  wives 
of  the  American  favages  extend  this  mark  of  folicitude 
even  to  infants  who  die  upon  the  hreaft.  After  having 
bellowed  upon  them  the  rights  of  fepulture,  they  come 
once  a  day,-  for  feveral  weeks,  and  prefs  from  the  nipple" 
a  few  drops  of  milk  upon  the  grave  of  the  departed  fuck- 
ling.^  This  is  pofitively  aHirmcd  by  the  Jefuit  CharU- 
i>oix\  who  was  frequently  an  eyewitnefs  of  the  fa6l.  Thus 

*  Sec  Father  Charlevoix^  Travels  tinouiih  Ameiica. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  353 

the  fentiment  of  Deity,  and  that  of  the  immortality  of 
the  foul,  are  interwoven  with  our  afFeftions  the  mofl: 
completely  animal,  and  efpecially  with  maternal  tender- 
He  fs. 

But  Man  has  not  fatisfied  himfelf  with  admitting  intel- 
leftual  beings  to  a  fhare  of  his  repaft,  and,  in  fome  meaf- 
ure,  with  inviting  them  to  his  table ;  he  has  found  the 
means  of  elevating  himfelf  to  their  rank,  by  the  phyfical 
cfFefts  of  thofe  very  aliments.  It  is  fingularly  remarka- 
ble, that  feveral  Tavage  Nations  have  been  difcovered, 
who  fcarcely  pofleiTed  induftry  fufficient  to  procure  food 
for  themfelves ;  but  not  one  who  had  not  inventetl  the 
means  of  getting  drunk.  Man  is  the  only  animal  who  is 
fenfible  to  that  pleafure.  Other  animals  are  content  to 
remain  in  their  fphere.  Man  is  making  perpetual  efforts 
to  get  out  of  his.  Intoxication  elevates  the  mind.  All 
religious  feflivals  among  Savages,  and  even  among  pol- 
ifhed  Nations,  end  in  feafting,  in  which  men  drink  till 
reafon  is  ^one :  They  begin,  it  is  true,  with  fading,  but 
intoxication  clofes  the  fcene.  Man  renounces  human 
reafon,  that  he  may  excite  in  himfelf  emotions  that  are 
divine.  The  efFe6l  of  intoxication  is  to  convey  the  foul 
into  the  bofom  of  fome  deity.  You  always  hear  topers 
celebrating,  in  their  fongs,  Bacchus,  Mars,  Venus,  or  the 
God  of  Love.  It  is  farther  very  remarkable,  that  men 
do  not  abandon  themfelves  to  blafphemy  till  they  arrive 
3t  a  ftate  of  intoxication  ;  for  it  is  an  inftinft  as  ufual  to 
the  foul,  to  cleave  to  the  Deity,  when  it  is  in  its  nat- 
ural ftate,  as  to  abjure  Him  when  it  is  corrupted  by  vice. 


Of  the  Senfc  of  Smelling. 


The  pleafures  of  fmcU  are  peculiar  to  Man;  for  I  d» 
Hot  comprehend  under  it  the  olfaftory  emanations   by 
yOL,    II.  WW 


us^ 


A  VINDICATION  Of. 


wiiich  he  forms  a  judgment  of  his  aliments,  and  which 
are  common  to  him  with  moft  animals.  Man  alone  is 
fenfible  to  perfumes,  and  employs  them  to  give  more  en- 
ergy to  his  pafiions.  Mahomet  faid,  that  they  elevated 
his  foul  to  Heaven.  Whatever  may  be  in  this,  the  ufe 
of  them  has  been  introduced  into  all  the  religious  cere- 
monies, and  into  the  political  affemblies,  of  many  Na- 
tions. The  Brafilians,  as  well  as  all  the  Savages  of  North 
America,  never  deliberate  on  any  obje6l  of  importance, 
without  fmoking  tobacco  in  a  calumet.  It  is  from  this 
praftice  that  the  calumet  is  become,  among  all  thofe  Na- 
tions, the  fymbol  of  peace,  of  war,  of  alliance,  according 
to  the  accefTories  with  which  it  is  accompanied. 

It  is  undoubtedly,  from  the  fame  cuftom  of  fmoking, 
which  was  common  to  the  Scythians,  as  Herodotus  re- 
lates, that  the  caduceus  of  Mercury^  which  has  a  ftriking 
refemblance  to  the  calumet  of  the  Americans,  and  which 
appears,  like  it,  to  have  been  nothing  but  a  pipe,  became 
the  fymbol  of  commerce.  Tobacco  increafes,  in  fome 
meafure,  the  powers  of  the  underftanding,  by  producing 
a  fpecies  of  intoxication  in  the  nerves  of  the  brain.  Lery 
tells  us,  that  the  Brafilians  fmoke  tobacco  till  it  makes 
them  drunk.  It  is  to  be  obferved,  that  thofe  nations  have 
found  out  the  moft  cephalic  plant  of  the  whole  vegetable 
kingdom,  and  that  the  ufe  of  it  is  the  moft  univerfally 
diff'ufed  of  all  thofe  which  exift  on  the  Globe,  the  vine 
and  the  corn  plants  not  excepted.  I  have  feen  it  culti- 
vated in  Finland,  beyond  Yiburg,  in  about  the  fixty  firft 
degree  of  North  Latitude.  The  habit  of  ufing  it  becomes 
fo  powerful,  that  a  perfon  who  has  acquired  it,  will  rath- 
er forego  bread,  for  a  day,  than  his  tobacco.  This  plant 
is  neverthelefs  a  real  poifon  ;  it  affcfts,  at  length,  the 
olfaftory  nerves,  and  fometimes  the  fight.  But  Man  is 
ever  difpofed  to  impair  his  phyfical  conftitution,  provid- 
ed he  can  ftrengthen  in  himfelf  the  intelleftual  fcntimcnt. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  ^55 


Oftkt  Senfe  of  Seeing. 


Every  thing  that  has  been  faid,  in  detailing  certain  gen- 
eral Laws  of  Nature,  Harmonies,  conformities,  contrails 
and  oppofitions,  refers  principally  to  the  fenfe  of  feemg, 
I  do  not  fpeak  of  adaptation,  or  correfpondence  ;  for  this 
belongs  to  the  fentiment  of  reafon,  arid  is  entirely  diftinft 
from  matter.  The  other  relations  are,  in  truth,  founded 
on  the  reafon  itfelf  of  Nature,  which  communicates  delight 
to  us  by  means  of  colours  and  forms  generative  and 
generated,  and  infpires  melancholy  by  thofe  which  an- 
nounce decompofition  and  deftruaion.  But,  without 
entering  upon  that  vaft  and  inexhauftible  fubjeft,  I  Ihall, 
at  prefent,  confine  myfelf  to  certain  optical  effefts,  which 
involuntarily  excite  in  us  the  fentiment  of  fome  of  the 
attributes  of  Deity. 

One  of  the  moft  obvious  caufes  of  the  pleafure  which 
we  derive  from  the  fight  of  a  great  tree,  arifes  from  the 
fentiment  of  infinity  kindled  in  us,  by  its  pyramidical 
form.  The  decreafe  of  its  different  tiers  of  branches,  and 
tints  of  verdure,  which  are  always  lighter  at  the  extremi- 
ties of  the  tree,  than  in  the  reft  of  its  foliage,  give  it  an 
apparent  elevation,  which  never  terminates.  We  experi- 
ence  the  fame  fenfations  in  the  horizontal  plan  of  land- 
fcapes,  in  which  we  frequently  perceive  feveral  fucceffive 
hilly  elevations  flying  away  one  behind  another,  till 
the  laft  melt  away  into  the  Heavens.  Nature  produces 
the  fame  effeR  in  vaft  plains,  by  means  of  the  vapours 
which  rife  from  the  banks  of  the  lakes,  or  from  the  chan- 
nels of  the  brooks  and  rivers  that  wander  through  diem  ; 
their  contours  are  multiplied  in  proportion  to  the  extent 
of  the  plain,  as  I  have  many  a  time  remarked.  Thofe  va- 
pours  prefent  themfelves  dn  different  plans;  fometimes 


356  A  VINDICATION  of 

they  ftand  Hill,  like  curtains  drawn  along  the  {k'nts  oi 
the  foreft ;  fometimes  they  mount  into  columns  over  the 
brooks  which  meander  through  the  meadows  ;  fometimes 
they  are  quite  gray  ;  at  other  times  they  are  illumined 
and  penetrated  by  the  rays  of  the  Sun.  Under  all  thefe 
afpefts,  they  difplay  to  us,  if  1  may  venture  to  ufe  the 
cxprelTion,  feveral  perfpeftives  of  infinity  in  infinity  it- 
felf. 

I  fay  nothing  of  the  delightful  fpeftacle  which  the 
Heavens  fometimes  prefent  to  us,  in  the  difpofition  of  the 
clouds.  I  do  not  know  of  any  Philofopher  who  has  fo 
much  as  fufpecled  that  their  beauties  were  fubjefted  to- 
Law.  One  thing  is  certain,  namely,  that  no  one  animal, 
which  lives  in  the  light,  is  infenfible  to  their  effefts.  I 
have  fpoken,  in  another  place,  fomewhat  of  their  charac- 
ters of  amability  or  terror,  which  are  the  fame  with  thofe 
of  amiable  or  dangerous  animals  and  vegetables,  con- 
formably to  thofe  of  the  days  and  oi  the  feafons  which 
they  announce.  The  Laws  of  them  which  1  have  fketch- 
ed,  will  fuggeft  delicious  fubjefts  of  meditation  to  any 
perfon  difpofed  to  ftudy  them,  excepting  thofe  who  are 
determined  to  apply  the  mechanical  medium  of  barome- 
ters and  thermometers.  Thefe  inftruments  are  good  for 
nothing  but  the  regulation  of  the  atmofphereof  our  cham- 
bers. They  too  frequently  conceal  from  us  the  aftion 
of  Nature ;  they  announce,  in  moft  inflances,  the  fame 
temperatures  to  the  days  which  fet  the  birds  a  fingmg, 
and  to  thofe  which  reduce  them  to  filence.  The  harmo- 
nies of  Heaven  are  to  be  felt  only  by  the  heart  of  Man. 
All  Nations,  flruck  by  their  ineffable  language,  raife  their 
hands  and  their  eyes  to  Heaven,  in  the  involuntary  emo- 
tions of  joy  or  of  grief. 

Reafon,  however,  telis  them  that  God  is  everywhere. 
How  comes  it  that  no  one  llretches  out  his  arms  toward 
the  Earth,  or  to  the  Horizon,  in  the  attitude  of  invoca- 
tion ?  Whence  comes  the  fentiment  which  whifpcrs  to 
th^m,  God  is  in  Heaven  ?  Is.   it  becaufe  Heaven    is  the 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  3^7 

place  where  light  dwells  ?  Is  it  becaufe  the  light  itfelf, 
which  difclofes  all  objefts  to  us,  not  being,  like  our  ter- 
reftrial  fubftances,  liable  to  be  divided,  corrupted,  de- 
Itroyed  and  confined,  feems  to  prefent  fomething  celeftial 
in  its  fubftance. 

It  is  to  the  fentiment  of  infinity,  which  the  fight  of  the 
Heavens  infpires,  that  we  muft  afcribe  the  tafte  of  all  Na- 
tions, for  building  temples  on  the  fummit  of  a  mountain, 
and  the  invincible  propenfity  which  the  Jews  felt,  like 
other  Nations,  to  worfiiip  upon  high  places.  There  is 
not  a  mountain,  all  over  the  iflands  of  the  Archipelago, 
but  what  has  its  church  ;  nor  a  hill,  in  China,  but  what 
has  its  pagoda.  If,  as  fome  Philofophers  pretend,  we 
never  form  a  judgment  of  the  nature  of  things,  but  from 
the  mechanical  refults  of  a  comparifon  with  ourfelves,  the 
elevation  of  mountains  ought  to  humiliate  our  infignifi, 
cance.  But  the  truth  is,  that  thefe  fublime  objefts,  by 
elevating  us  toward  Heaven,  elevate  thither  the  foul  of 
Man,  by  the  fentimeirt  of  infinity ;  and,  disjoining  us 
from  things  terreftrial,  waft  us  to  the  enjoyment  of  beau- 
ties of  much  longer  duration. 

The  works  of  Nature  frequently  prefent  to  us  feveral 
kinds  of  infinity  at  once  :  Thus,  for  example,  a  great  tree, 
the  trunk  of  which  is  cavernous,  and  covered  with  mofs, 
conveys  to  us  the  fentiment  of  infinity  as  to  time,  as  well 
as  that  of  infinity  in  point  of  elevation.  It  exhibits  a 
monument  of  ages  when  we  did  not  exift.  Jf  to  this  is 
added  infinity  of  extenfion,  as  when  wc  perceive  through 
its  folemn  branches,  objefts  prodigioufly  remote,  our  ven- 
eration increafes.  Go  on,  and  add  to  all  thefe,  the  dif- 
ferent ridges  of  its  mafs,  in  contraft  with  the  profundity 
of  the  valleys,  and  with  the  level  of  the  plains ;  its  ven- 
erable half  lights,  which  oppofe  themfelves,  and  play 
with  the  azure  of  the  Heavens  ;  and  the  fentiment  of  our 
own  wretchednefs,  which  it  relieves,  by  the  ideas  of  the 
proteftion  which  it  affords  in  the  thicknefs  of  its  trunk, 
2R3moveable,  as  the  rock  and  in  its  auguft  fummit,  agitated 


§58  A  VINDICATION  OF 

by  the  winds,  the  majeftic  murmurs  of  which  feem  tS 
fympathize  with  our  diftrefs.  A  tree,  with  all  thefe 
harmonies,  feems  to  infpirean  inexpreffible  religious  awe. 
F/iny  fays,  in  conformity  to  this  idea,  that  the  trees  were 
the  firft  temples  of  the  Gods. 

The  fublime  impreflion  which  they  produce,  becomes 
flill  more  profound,  when  they  recal  to  us  fome  fentiment 
of  virtue,  fuch  as  the  recolleftion  of  the  great  men  who 
planted  them,  or  of  thofe  whofe  tombs  they  fhade.  Of 
this  kind  were  the  oaks  of  lulus  at  Troy.  It  is  from  an 
effeft  of  this  fentiment,  that  the  mountains  of  Greece  and 
Italy  appear  to  us  more  refpeftable  than  thofe  of  the  reft 
of  Europe,  though  they  are  of  no  higher  antiquity  on  the 
Globe,  becaufe  their  monuments,  in  ruins  as  they  are, 
call  to  our  remembrance  the  virtues  of  the  perfons  who 
inhabited  them.  But  this  fubjeft  belongs  not  to  the  pref- 
ent  article. 

In  general,  the  different  fenfations  of  infinity  increafe 
by  the  contrafts  of  the  phyfical  objefts  which  produce 
them.  Our  Painters  are  not  fufficiently  attentive  to  the 
choice  of  thofe  which  they  introduce  into  the  fore  ground 
of  their  pictures.  They  would  give  a  much  more  power- 
ful effeft  to  their  back  ground  fcenery,  if  they  oppofed  to 
it  the  frontifpiece,  not  only  in  colours  and  forms,  as  they 
fometime  do,  but  in  nature.  Thus,  for  example,  if  the 
Artift  wifhed  to  communicate  an  affefting  intereft  to  a 
cheerful  and  fmiling  landfcape,  he  would  do  well  to  pre- 
fent  it  through  a  magnificent  triumphal  arch,  crumbling 
into  ruin  by  length  of  time.  On  the  contrary,  a  city 
filled  with  Tufcan  and  Egyptian  monuments,  would  have 
a  ftill  greater  air  of  antiquity,  when  viewed  from  under  a 
bower  of  verdure  and  flowers.  We  ought  to  imitate  Na- 
ture, who  never  produces  the  moft  lovely  plants,  in  all. 
their  beauty,  fuch  as  moffes,  violets  and  rofes,  but  at  the 
foot  of  ruflic  rocks. 

Not  that  confonances  do  not  likewife  produce  a  very 
powerful   effe61,  efpecially  when  they  feem  to  unite  ob- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  35, 

jefts  whicli  are  diflin6l  from  each  other.  It  is  thus,  for 
inftance,  that  the  cupola  of  the  College  of  the  Four  Na. 
tions,  prefents  a  magnificent  point  of  view,  when  feen 
^rom  the  middle  of  the  court  of  the  Louvre,  through  the 
arcade  of  that  palace  which  is  oppofite,  for  then  you 
view  it  complete,  with  a  portion  of  the  Heaven  under  the 
arch,  as  if  it  were  a -part  of  the  Louvre.  Biit  in  this  very 
confonance,  which  gives  fuch  an  extent  to  our  vifion, 
there  is  likewife  a  contrail  in  the  concave  form  of  the  ar- 
cade, with  the  convex  form  of  the  cupola. 
.  The  great  art  of  moving  is  to  oppofc  fcnfible  objefls 
to  intelieftual.  The  foul,  in  that  cafe,  takes  a  daring 
foar.  It  pafles  from  the  vifible  to  the  invifible,  and  en- 
joys, if  I  may  be  allowed  the  expreffion,  in  its  own  way, 
by  extending  itfelf  into  the  unbounded  fields  of  fentiment 
and  of  intelligence.  Among  certain  Tartar  Tribes,  when 
a  great  man  dies,  his  groom,  after  the  interment,  leads 
out  the  horfe  which  his  mafler  was  accuftomed  to  ride, 
places  the  clothes  which  he  wore  on  the  horfe's  back,  and 
walks  him,  in  profound  filence,  before  the  afTembly,  who, 
by  that  fpeftacle,  are  melted  into  tears. 

When  the  fupprefTed  circumftances  multiply,  and  u- 
nite  themfelves  to  fome  virtuous  affeftion,  the  emotions 
of  the  foul  are  greatly  heightened.  Thus  when,  in  the 
-'Eneid,  Juius  is  promifmg  to  make  prefents  to  A^i/us  and 
Euryaius,  who  are  going  in  quefl  gf  his  father  to  Pa/an^ 
Uum,  he  fays  to  Ni/us  : 

*  Bina  dabo  argcnto  perfefta  atqueafpera  fignis 
Pocula,  dcvida  genitor  qux  cepit  Arifba  ; 
Et  tripodes  geminos,  auri  duo  magna  talenta, 
Cratera  antiquum  quem  dat  Sidonia  Dido. 

A^neii^  Lie,  ix.  v.  263. 
*  Two  filver  cups,  embofs'd  with  niceft  art, 

ril  give,  of  warlike  fpoijs  my  Father's  part, 

When  fam'd  Arifba  fell ;  two  tripods  old ; 

A  double  talent,  too,  of  purcft  gold  ; 

Sidonian  Dido's  gift  fhall  crown  the  reft, 

A  'powl  antique,  oi  generous  lovc  the  tcft. 


360  A  VINDICATION  OF 

*'  I  will  prefent  you  with  two  filver  cups  of  exquifite 
"  workmanfliip,  with  curious  figures  in  ako  relievo. 
**  They  became  my  father's  property  at  the  capture  of  A- 
"  rifba.  To  thefe  I  will  add  a  pair  of  twin  tripods  ;  two 
*'  talents  of  mafly  gold  ^  and  an  ancient  goblet,  a  token 
*'  of  affeftion  from  Queen  Dido,'' 

He  prom^fes  to  the  two  youthful  friends,  united  to 
each  other  in  the  tenderefl  bonds,  double  prefents,  two  cups, 
two  tripods  to  ferve  as  Hands  for  them,  after  the  manner  of 
the  ancients,  two  talents  of  gold  to  replenifh  them  with 
wine,  but  only  one  bowl  from  which  they  might  drink 
together.  And  then,  what  a  bowl !  he  boafts  neither  of 
the  materials  of  which  it  is  compofed,  nor  of  the  work- 
manfhip,  as  in  the  cafe  of  the  other  prefents  ;  he  con- 
ne^s  it  with  moral  qualities  infinitely  more  interefting 
to  the  heart  of  iriendfhip.  It  is  antique  ;  it  was  not  the 
prize  of  violence,  but  the  gift  of  love.  lulus,  no  doubt, 
received  it  as  a  mark  of  aff"eftion  from  Dido,  when  flie 
confidered  herfelf  to  be  the  wife  of  JEneas. 

In  all  the  fcenes  of  paflion,  where  the  intention  is  to 
produce  flrong  emotions,  the  more  that  the  principal  ob- 
je6l  is  circurafcribed,  the  more  extended  is  the  intelleftu- 
al  fentiment  refulting  from  it.  Several  reafons  might  be 
affigncd  for  this,  the  mod  important  of  which  is,  that  the 
ac'ceffory  contrails,  as  thofe  of  littlenefs  and  greatnefs,  of 
weakncfs  and  ftrength,  of  finite  and  infinite,  concur  in 
heightening  the  contraft  of  the  fubjeft.  When  PouJJin 
conceived  the  idea  ot  a  pifture  of  the  univerfal  deluge,  he 
confined  it  to  the  reprcfentation  of  a  fingle  family.  There 
you  fee  an  old  man  on  horfeback,  on  the  point  of  drown- 
ing ;  and  in  a  boat,  a  man,  who  is  perhaps  his  fon,  pre- 
fents to  his  wife,  who  has  made  fliift  to  fcramble  up  a 
rock,  a  little  child  dreifed  in  a  red  petticoat,  who,  on  its 
part,  is  making  every  effort,  with  its  little  feet,  to  get  up- 
on the  rock.  The  back  ground  of  the  landfcape  is  fright- 
ful from  its  black  melancholy.  The  herbage  and  the  trees 
^re  foaked  in  water,  the   Earth  itfelf  is  penetrated  by  it, 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  361 

which  is  rendered  #5 fible  by  that  long  ferpent,  in  eager 
hafte  to  quit  its  hole.  The  torrents  are  gufhing  down  on 
every  fide  ;  the  Sun  appears  in  the  Heavens  like  an  eye 
thruft  out  of  its  focket  :  But  the  moft  powerful  intereft 
in  the  piece  bears  upon  the  feebleft  objeft  :  A  father  and 
a  mother,  ready  themfelves  to  perifh,  are  wholly  engrolT- 
cd  in  the  prefervation  of  their  infant.  Every  feeling  is  ex- 
tinguifhed  on  the  Earth,  but  maternal  tendernefs  is  ftill  a- 
live.  The  human  race  is  deftroyed  becaufe  of  its  crimes, 
and  innocence  is  going  to  be  involved  in  the  punifliment. 
Thefe  unreftrained  torrents,  that  deluged  Earth,  that  lurid 
Atmofphere,  that  extinguiftied  Sun,  thofe  defolated  foli- 
tudes,  that  fugitive  family,  all  the  efFefts  of  that  univerfal 
ruin  of  the  World,  are  wfeolly  concentrated  in  an  infant. 
There  is  no  one,  however,  who,  on  viewing  the  fmall 
group  of  perfonages  which  furround  it,  would  not  ex- 
claim :  *'  There's  the  Univerfal  Deluge  !"  'Such  is  the 
nature  of  the  huhian  foul  ;  fo  far  from  being  material,  it 
lays  hold  only  of  correfpondencies.  The  lefs  you  difplay 
to  it  phyfical  objefts,  the  more  you  awaken  in  it  intellec- 
tual feelings. 


Of  the  Seiife  of  Hearing. 


Plato  calls  hearing  and  feeing  tha  fenfes  of  the  foul.  1 
fuppofe  he  qualifies  them  particularly  by  this  name,  be- 
caufe vifion  is  affefted  by  light,  which  is  not,  properly 
fpeaking,  a  fubftance  ;  and  hearing,  by  the  modulations 
of  the  air,  which  are  not  of  themfelves  bodies.  Befides, 
thefe  two  fenfes  convey  to  us  only  the  fentiment  of  cor- 
refpondencies and  harmonies,  without  involving  us  in  mat- 
ter, as  fmelling  does,  which  is  affeaed  only  by  the  ema- 
nations from  bodies,  tailing  by  their  fluidity,  and  touch- 
ing by  their  folidity,  by  their  foftnefs,   by  their  heat  and 

VOL.   II.  XX 


3^2  A  VINDICATION  of 

by  their  other  phyfical  qualities.  Though  hearing  aiidl 
feeing  be  the  dire£l  fenfes  of  the  foul,  we  ought  not,  how- 
ever, thencd  to  conclude,  that  a  man  born  deaf  and  blind 
mufl  be  an  ideot,  as  fome  have  pretended.  The  foul  fees 
and  hears  by  all  the  fenfes.  This  has  been  demonftrated 
in  the  cafe  of  the  blind  Princes  of  Perfia,  whofe  fingers, 
according  to  Chardin\  report,  are  fo  aflonifhingly  intelli- 
gent, that  they  can  trace,  and  calculate,  all  the  figures  of 
Geometry  on  tablets.  Such  are,  likewife,  the  deaf  and 
the  dumb,  whom  the  Ahhi  de  VEpie,  is  teaching  to  con- 
verfe  together. 

I  have  no  occafion  to  be  diffufe  on  the  fubjeft  of  the  in- 
telleftual  relations  of  hearing.  This  fenfe  is  the  immedi- 
ate organ  of  intelligence  ;  it  is*,  that  which  is  adapted  to 
the  reception  of  fpeech,  a  faculty  peculiar  to  Man,  and 
"which,  by  its  infinite  modulations,  is  the  expreffion  of  all. 
the  correfpondencies  of  Nature,  and  of  all  the  feelings  of 
the  human  heart.  But  there  is  another  language,  which 
feems  to  appertain  Hill  more  particularly  to  this  firff  prin- 
ciple of  ourfelves,  to  which  we  have  given  the  name  of 
Jentivient :  I  mean  mufic. 

I  fhall  not  dwell  on  the  incomprehenfible  power  which 
it  poffelfes  of  roufing  and  quieting  the  pafFions,  in  a  man- 
ner independent  of  reafon,  and  of  kindling  fublime  affec- 
tions, difengaged  from  all  intelleftual  perception  :  Its  ef- 
fefts  are  fufficiently  known.  I  fhall  only  obferve,  that  it 
is  fo  natural  to  Man,  that  the  firfl  prayers  addrelfed  to  the 
Deity,  and  the  original  Laws  among  all  Nations,  were 
fet  to  Mufic.  Man  lofes  a  tafle  for  it  only  in  polifhed 
fociety,  the  very  languages  of  which,  at  length,  lofe  their 
accentuation.  The  faft  is,  that  a  multitude  of  focial  re- 
lations deflroy,  in  a  Hate  of  refinement,  tl?e  correfponden- 
cies of  Nature.  In  that  flate,  we  reafon  much,  but  fcarce- 
ly  feel  any  longer. 

The  Author  of  Nature  has  deemed  the  harmony  of 
founds  to  be  fo  neccffary  to  Man,  that  there  is  not  a  fitua- 
tion  upon  the  Earth  but  what  lias  its  finging  bird.      The 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  36$ 

Tinnet  of  the  Canaries   ufually  frequents,  in  tliofe  iflands, 
the  flinty  gutters    of  the  mountains.     The  goldfinch  de- 
lights in  fandy  downs,  the  lark  in' the  meadows,  the  night- 
ingale in   woods  by   the  fide  of  a  brook,  the  bullfinch, 
whofe  note  is   fo  fweet,  in  the  white  thorn  :  The  thrufh, 
the  yellowhammer,   the  greenfinch,   and  all  other  finging 
birds,  have  their  favourite  poll.     It   is   very   remarkable, 
that  all  over  the  Globe  they  difcover  an  inftinft  which  at- 
trafts  them  to  the   habitation   of  Ma-n.     If  there  be  but  a 
fingle  hut  in  a  foreft,   all  the  fong  birds  of  the  vicinity 
come  and  fettle  around  it.     Nay,  none  are  to  be  found  ex- 
cept in   places   which   are  inhabited.      I   have   travelled 
more  than  fix  hundred  leagues,  through  the  forells  of  Ruf- 
lia,  but  never  met  with  fmall  birds  except   in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  villages.      On  making  the  tour  of  the  fortifi- 
ed places  of  Ruffian  Finland,  with  the  General  Officers  of 
the  Corps   of  Engineers,  in  which  I   ferved,  we  travelled 
fometimes  at  the  rate  of  twenty  leagues  a  day,  without  fee- 
ing on  the  road  either  village  or  bird.     But  when  we  per- 
ceived  the  fparrows   fluttering  about,  we  concluded  that 
we  muft   be  drawing  near  fome  inhabited  place.     In  this 
indication  we  were  never  once  deceived.     I  relate  it  with 
the  more  fatisfaftion,  that  it   may  fometimes  be  of  fervice 
to  perfons  who  have  loft  their  way  in  the  woods. 
"^   Garcillajo  de  la  Vega  informs  us,  that  his  father  having 
been  detached  from  Peru,  with  a   company  of  Spaniards, 
to  make  difcoveries  beyond  the  Cordeliers,  was  in  danger 
of  perifhing  with  hunger  in  the  midft  of  their  uninhabited 
valleys  and  quagmires.     He  never  could  have  got  out,  had 
he  not  perceived  in  the  air  a  flight  of  paroquets,   which 
fuggefted  a  hope  that  there  might  be  fome  place  of  habita- 
tion at  no  great  diftance.     He  direfted  his  march   to  that 
point  of  the  compafs  which  the  paroquets  had   purfued, 
and  arrived,  after  incredible  fatigue,  at  a  colony  of  In- 
dians, who  cultivated  fields  of  maize. 

It  is  to  be  obferved,  that  Nature  has  not  given  a  mufical 
voice  to  any  one  fea  or  river  bird,  becaufe  it  would  have 


,364  A  VINDICATION  OP 

been  loft  in  the  noife  of  the  waters,  and  becaufe  the  hu- 
man ear  could  not  have  enjoyed  it  at  the  diftance  which 
they  are  deflined  to  live  from  the  land.  If  there  are  fwans 
which  fing,  as  has  been  alleged  by  fome,  their  fong  muft 
confift  of  but  very  few  modulations,  with  fome  refem- 
blance  to  the  uncouth  founds  uttered  by  the  duck  and 
the  goofe.  That  of  the  wild  fwans,  which  came  lately 
and  fettled  at  Chantilly,  has  only  four  or  five  notes.  A- 
quatic  birds  have  fhrill  and  piercing  cries,  by  means  of 
which  they  can  make  themfelves  heard  in  the  regions  of 
wind  and  tempeft  where  they  inhabit,  and  are  in  perfeft 
correfpondence  with  their  noify  fituations,  and  their  mel- 
ancholy folitudes. 

The  melodies  of  fong  birds  have  fimilar  relations  to  the 
fites  which  they  occupy,  and  even  to  the  diftances  at  which 
they  live  from  our  habitations.  The  lark,  who  neftles  a- 
mong  our  corn,  and  delights  in  foaring  perpendicularly 
till  we  lofe  fight  of  him,  makes  his  voice  to  be  heard  in 
the  air,  after  he  is  no  longer  perceptible  to  the  eye.  The 
fwallow,  who  grazes  the  walls  of  our  houfes  as  he  flies, 
and  repofes  on  our  chimneys,  has  a  fmall  gentle  chirping 
voice,  which  does  not  ftun  the  ear,  as  that  of  the  fongfters 
of  the  grove  would  do  ;  but  the  folitary  nightingale  makes 
himfelf  heard  at  the  diftance  of  more  than  half  a  league. 
He  miftrufts  the  vicinity  of  man  ;  and,  neverthelefs,  al- 
ways places  himfelf  within  fight  of  his  habitation,  and 
within  the  reach  of  his  ear.  He  choofes,  for  this  effeft, 
places  which  are  the  beft  conduftors  of  found,  in  order 
that  their  echoing  may  give  more  a6fion  to  his  voice. 
Having  ftationed  himfelf  in  his  orcheftra,  he  warbles  an 
imknown  drama,  which  has  its  exordium,  its  expofition, 
its  recitative^  its  cataftrophe,  intermingled  fometimes  with 
the  inoft  extravagant  burfts  of  joy,  fometimes  with  bitter 
and  plaintive  notes  of  recolleftion,  which  he  exprefles  by 
long  and  deep  fighs.  He  raifes  his  fong  at  the  commence- 
ment of  that  feafon  which  renews  the  face  of  Nature,  and 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  3^ 

feems  to  prefent  Man  with  a  reprefentation  of  the  reftlefe 
career  which  lies  before  him. 

Every  bird  has  a  voice  adapted  to  the  times  and  the  11a- 
tions  of  its  deflination,  and  relative  to  the  wants  of  Man. 
The  loud  clarion  of  the  cock  calls  him  up  to  labour  at 
the  dawn  of  day.  The  brifk  and  lively  fong  of  the  lark, 
in  the  meadow,  invites  the  fwains  and  fhepherdefles  to  the 
dance  ;  the  voracious  thrufh,  which  appears  only  in  Au- 
tumn, fummons  the  ruftic  vine  drefTer  to  the  vintage. 
Man  alone,  on  his  part,  is  attentive  to  the  accents  of  the 
feathered  race.  Never  will  the  deer,  who  fheds  tears 
copioully  over  his  own  misfortunes,  figh  over  thofe  of  the 
complaining  Philomel.  Never  did  the  laborious  ox, 
when  led  to  the  flaughter,  after  all  his  painful  fervices, 
turn  his  head  toward  her,  and  fay  :  "  Solitary  bird,  be- 
'*  hold  in  what  manner  Man  rewards  his  fervants  !" 

Nature  has  difFufcd  thefe  diftraftions,  and  thefe  confo- 
nances  of  fortune,  over  volatile  beings,  in  order  that  our 
foul,  fufceptible  as  it  is  of  every  woe,  finding  every  where 
occafions  of  extending  that  fufceptibility,  might  every 
where  be  enabled  to  alleviate  the  preflure.  She  has  ren- 
dered infenfible  bodies  themfelves  capable  of  thefe  com- 
munications. She  prefents  to  us,  frequently,  in  the  midft 
of  fcenes  which  pain  the  eye,  other  fcenes  which  delight 
the  ear,  and  foothe  the  mind  with  interefting  recolleftions. 
It  is  thus  that  from  the  bofom  of  forefts,  fhe  tranfports  us 
to  the  brink  of  the  waters,  by  the  ruffling  of  the  afpins 
and  of  the  poplars.  At  other  times  fhe  conveys  to  us, 
when  we  are  by  the  fide  of  the  brook,  the  noife  of  the 
Sea,  and  the  manoeuvres  of  navigation,  in  the  murmuring 
of  reeds  fhaken  by  the  wind.  When  fhe  can  no  longer 
feduce  our  reafon  by  foreign  imagery,  fhe  lulls  it  to  refl 
by  the  charm  of  fentiment  :  She  calls  forth  from  the  bo- 
fom of  the  forefls,  of  the  meadows,  and  of  the  valleys, 
founds  ineffable,  which  excite  in  us  pleafmg  reveries,  and 
plunge  us  into  profound  fleep. 


%66  A  VINDICATION  or 


0/  the  Serrje  of  Touching. 


I  fhall  make  but  a  few  reflexions  on  the  fenfe  of  touch- 
ing. It  is  the  moft  obtufe  of  all  our  fenfes,  and,  never- 
thelefs,  it  is,  in  fome  fort,  the  feal  of  our  intelligence.  To 
no  purpofe  is  an  objecl  expofed  to  the  examination  of  the 
eye,  in  every  pofTible  pofition  ;  we  cannot  be  perfuaded 
that  we  know  it  unlefs  we  are  permitted  «to  put  it  to  the 
touch.  This  inflinft  proceeds,  perhaps,  from  our  weak- 
nth,  which  feeks  in  thefe  approximations  points  of  pro- 
tcftion.  Whatever  may  be  in  this,  the  fenfe  in  queftion, 
blunt  as  it  is,  may  be  made  the  channel  of  communicating 
intelligence,  as  is  evident  from  the  example  adduced  by 
Ckardin,  ot  the  blind  men  of  Perfia,  who  traced  geometri- 
cal figures  with  their  fingers,  and  formed  a  very  accurate 
judgment  of  the  goodnefs  of  a  watch,  by  handling  the 
parts  of  the  movement. 

Wife  Nature  has  placed  the  principal  organs  of  this 
fenfe,  which  is  diffufed  over  the  whole  furface  of  our  fl<:in, 
in  our  hands  and  feet,  which  are  the  members  the  beft  a- 
dapted  to  judge  of  the  quality  of  bodies.  But  in  order 
that  they  might  not  be  expofed  to  the  lofs  of  their  fenfi- 
bility,  by  frequent  fhocks,  fhe  has  bellowed  on  them  a 
great  degree  of  pliancy,  by  dividing  them  into  feveral  fin- 
gers and  toes,  and  thefe  again  into  feveral  joints  ;  farther, 
ihe  has  furniflied  them,  on  the  points  of  contaft,  with  e- 
laftic  half  pincers,  which  prefent,  at  once,  refiflance  in 
their  callous  and  prominent  parts,  and  an  exquifite  fenfi- 
bility  in  the  retreating  parts. 

It  is  matter  of  aftonifhment  to  me,  however,  that  Na- 
ture fhould  have  diffufed  the  fenfe  of  touching  over  the 
whole  furface  of  the  human  body,  which  becomes  thence 
expofed  to  variety  of  fuffering,  while  no  conlidcrabic  ben~ 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  367 

efit  feems  to  refult  from  it.  Man  is  the  only  animal  laid 
under  the  neceffity  of  clothing  himfelf.  There  are,  in- 
deed, fome  infefts  which  make  cafes  for  themfelves,  fuch 
as  the  moth  ;  but  they  are  produced  in  places  where  their 
clothing  is,  if  I  may  fay  fo,  ready  made.  This  necelTity, 
which  is  become  one  of  the  moft  inexhauflible  fources  of  hu- 
man vanity,  is,  in  my  opinion,  one  of  the  moft  humiliating 
proofs  of  our  wretchednefs.  Man  is  the  only  being  who 
is  afhamed  of  appearing  naked.  This  is  a  feeling  of  which 
I  do  not  difcern  the  reafon  in  Nature,  nor  the  fimilitude 
in  the  inflinft  of  other  animals.  Befides,  independently 
of  all  fenfe  of  ftiame,  he  is  conflrained,  by  powerful  ne- 
ceffity, to  clothe  himfelf,  in  every  variety  of  climate. 

Certain  Philofophers,  wrapped  up  in  good  warm  cloaks,' 
and  who  never  ftir  beyond  the  precinfts  of  our  great  cities, 
have  figured  to  themfelves  a  natural  Man  on  the  Earth,  like 
a  flatue  of  bronze  in  the  middle  of  one  of  our  fquares.  But 
to  fay  nothing  of  the  innumerable  inconveniencies  which 
muft,  in  fuch  a  flate,  opprefs  his  miferable  exiftence  from 
without,  as  the  cold,  the  heat,  the  wind,  the  rain,  I  fhall 
infift  only  on  one  inconvenience,  which  is  but  flightly  felt 
in  our  commodious  apartments,  though  it  would  be  abfo- 
lutely  infupportable  to  a  naked  man,  in  the  mod  genial  of 
temperatures  ;  I  mean  the  flies.  1  fhall  quote,  to  this  pur- 
pofe,  the  teflimony  ot  a  man  whofe  fkin  ought  to  have 
been  proof  againft  this  attack  :  It  is  that  of  the  free  hoot- 
er Raveneau  de  Li(Jfan,\'f\\o,  in  the  year  1688,  crofFed  the 
iflhmus  of  Panama,  on  his  return  from  the  South  Seas. 
Hear  what  he  .  fays,  fpeaking  of  the  Indians  of  Cape  de 
Gracias  a  Dios  :  "  When  they  are  overtaken  with  an  in- 
**  clination  to  go  to  fleep,  they  dig  a  hole  in  the  fand,  in 
"  which  they  lay  themfelves  along,  and  then  cover  them- 
**  felves  all  over  with  the  fand  which  they  had  duor  out  ; 
"  this  they  do  to  fhelter  themfelves  from  the  attack  of  the 
"  mufquitos,  with  which  the  air  is  frequently  loaded. 
*'  They  are  a  kind  of  little  flies,  that  are  rather  felt  than 
**  ^c^nj  and  are  armed  with  a  fling  fo  keen,  and  fo  veuiom- 


3^8  A  VINDICATION  of 

*'  ous,  that  when  they  fix  on  any  one,   they  feem  to  dart 
"  a  fhaft   of  fire  into   the  blood. 

*'  The  poor  wretches  are  fo  grievoufly  tormented  with 
"  thofe  formidable  infefts,  when  it  does  not  blow,  that 
"  they  become  like  lepers  ;  and  I  can  affirm  it  as  a  feri- 
"  ous  truth,  for  I  know  it  from  my  own  experience, 
"  that  it  is  no  flight  evil  to  be  attacked  by  them  ;  for,  be- 
"  fides  their  preventing  all  reft  in  the  night  time,  when 
"  we  were  obliged  to  trudge  along,  with  our  backs  naked 
**  for  want  of  Ihirts,  the  unceafmg  perfecution  of  thofe 
"  mercilefs  little  animals  drove  us  almoft  to  madnefs  and 
*'  defp 


air. 


It  is,  I  am  difpofed  to  believe,  on  account  of  the  troub- 
lefomenefs  of  the  flies,  which  are  very  common,  and  very 
DecefTary,  in  the  marlhy  and  humid  places  of  hot  countries, 
that  Nature  has  placed  but  few  quadrupeds  with  hair,  on 
their  fhores,  but  quadrupeds  with  fcales,  as  the  tatou,  the 
armadillo,  the  tortoife,  the  lizard,  the  crocodile,  the  cay- 
man, the  land  crab,  bernard  the  hermit,  and  other  fcaly 
reptiles,  fuch  as  ferpents,  upon  which  the  flies  have  not 
the  means  of  faftening.  It  is,  perhaps,  for  this  reafon, 
likewife,  that  hogs  and  wild  boars,  which  take  pleafure  in 
frequenting  fuch  places,  are  furnifhed  with  hair  long,  ftiff 
and  briftly,  which  keep  volatile  infefts  at  a  diftance. 

Once  more.  Nature  has  not  employed,  in  this  refpefl, 
any  one  precaution  in  behalf  of  Man.  Of  a  truth,  on 
contemplating  the  beauty  of  his  forms,  and  his  complete 
nakednefs,  it  is  impoffible  for  me  not  to  admit  the  ancient 
tradition  of  our  origin.  Nature,  in  placing  him  on  the 
Earth,  faid  to  him  :  "  Go,  degraded  creature,  animal  def- 
*•  titute  of  clothing,  intelligence  without  light  ;  go,  and 
"  provide  for  thy  own  wants ;  it  fhall  not  be  in  thy  power 
*'  to  enlighten  thy  blinded  reafon,  but  by  direfting  it  con- 
**  tinually  toward  Heaven,  nor  to  fuftain  thy  miferable 
"  life,  without  theafTiftance  of  beings  like  thyfelf."  And 

*   Journal  of  a  Voyage  to  the  South  Sea  in  i688. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  369 

tlius,  out  of  the  mifery  of  Man,  fprung  up  the  two  com- 
mandments of  the  Law. 


OF  THE  SENTLMENTS  OF  THE  SOUL« 


AND,    FIR.ST> 


Of  mental  Affe&ions. 


I  (hall  fpeak  of  mental  afFcftions,  chiefly  in  the  view  of 
i^iftinguifhing  them  from  the  fentiments  of  the  foul :  They 
differ  efTentially  from  each  other.  For  example,  the  pleaf- 
ure  which  comedy  bellows  is  widely  different  from  that 
of  which  tragedy  is  the  fource.  The  emotion  which  ex- 
cites laughter  is  an  affeft ion  of  the  mind,  or  of  human  rea- 
fon  ;  that  which  difTolves  us  into  tears  is  a  fentiment  of 
the  foul.  Not  that  I  would  make  of  the  mind,  and  of  the 
foul,  two  powers  of  a  different  nature  ;  but  it  feems  to 
me,  as  has  been  already  faid,  that  the  one  is  to  the  other, 
what  fight  is  to  the  body ;  mind  is  a  faculty,  and  foul  is 
the  principle  of  it  :  The  foul  is,  if  1  may  venture  thus  to 
exprefs  myfelf,  the  body  of  our  intelligence.  1  confider 
the  mind,  then,  as  an  intelle6lual  eye,  to  which  may  be 
referred  the  other  faculties  of  the  underftanding,  as  the 
imagination^  which  apprehends  things  future ;  memory ^ 
which  contemplates  things  that  are  pafl ;  zrvAjudginent^ 
which  difcerns  their  correfpondencies.  The  imprefhon 
made  upon  us  by  thefe  different  afts  of  vifion,  fometimes 
excites  in  us  a  fentiment  which  is  denominated  evidence  \ 
and  in  that  cafe,  this  laft  perception  belongs  immediately 
to  the  foul ;  ot  this  we  are  made  fenfible  by  the  delicious 
emotion  which  it  fuddenly  excites  in  us ;  but,  raifed  to 
that,  it  is   no  lenger  in   the  province  of  mind  ;  becaufe, 

VOL.    II.  Y  v 


370  A  VINDICATION  of 

when  we  begin  to  feel,  we  ceafe  to  reafon  ;  it  is  no  longer 
vifion,  it  is  enjoyment. 

As  our  education  and  our  manners  dire6l  us  toward  our 
perfonal  interell,  hence  it  comes  to  pafs,  that  the  mind 
employs  itfelf  only  about  focial  conformities,  and  that 
reafon,  after  all,  is  nothing  more  than  the  intereft  of  our 
pallions ;  but  the  foul,  left  to  itfelf,  is  inceffantly  purfu- 
ing  the  conformities  of  Nature,  and  our  fentiment  is  al- 
ways the  intereft  of  Mankind. 

Thus,  I  repeat  it,  mind  is  the  perception  of  the  Laws 
of  Society,  and  fentiment  is  the  perception  of  the  Laws 
of  Nature.  Thofe  who  difplay  to  us  the  conformities  of 
Society,  fuch  as  comic  Writers,  Satyrifts,  Epigrammat- 
ifts,  and  even  the  greateft  part  of  Moralifts,  are  men  of 
w^it :  Such  were  the  Abbe  de  Choijy^  La  Bruycre,  St.  £<y- 
remont^  and  the  like.  Thofe  who  difcover  to  us  the  con- 
formities of  Nature,  fuch  as  tragic,  and  other  Poets  of  fen- 
fibility,  the  Inventors  of  arts,  great  Philofophers,  are  men 
of  genius :  Such  were  Shakefpeare,  Corneille^  Racine, 
Newton^  Marcus  Aureiius,  Montejqmeu,  La  Fontaine,  Fen- 
elon,  jf.  J.  Roujfeau,  The  firft  clafs  belong  to  one  age, 
to  one  feafon,  to  one  nation,  to  one  junto  ;  the  others  to 
pofterity  and  to  Mankind. 

We  fliall  be  ftill  more  fenfible  of  the  difference  which 
fubfifts  between  mind  and  foul,  by  tracing  their  afFe6tions 
in  oppofite  progreffes.  As  often,  for  example,  as  the  per- 
ceptions of  the  mind  are  carried  up  to  evidence,  they  are 
exalted  into  a  fource  of  exquifite  pleafure,  independently 
of  every  particular  relation  of  intereft ;  becaufe,  as  has 
been  faid,  they  aw^aken  a  feeling  within  us.  But  when 
we  go  about  to  analyze  our  feelings,  and  refer  them  to  the 
examination  of  the  mind,  or  reafoning  power,  the  fublime 
emotions  which  they  excited  in  us  vanifti  away  ;  for  in 
this  cafe,  we  do  not  fail  to  refer  them  to  fome  accommoda- 
tion of  fociety,  of  fortune,  of  fyftem,  or  of  fome  other  per- 
fonal intereft,  whereof  our  reafon  is  compofed.     Thus,  in 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  57^ 

the  firft  cafe,  we  change  our  copper  into  gold  ;  and  in  the 
fecond,  our  gold  into  copper. 

Again,  nothing  can  be  lefs  adapted,  at  the  long  run,  to 
the  ftudy  of  Nature,  than  the  rcafoning  powers  of  Man; 
for  though  they  may  catch  here  and  there  fome  natural 
conformities,  they  never  piirfue  the  chain  to  any  great 
length  :  Befides,  there  is  a  much  greater  number  which 
the  mind  does  not  perceive,  becaufe  it  always  brings  back 
every  thing  to  itfelf,  and  to  the  little  focial  or  fcientific 
order  within  which  it  is  circumfcribed.  Thus,  for  example, 
if  it  takes  a  glimpfe  of  the  celeftial  fpheres,  it  will  refer 
the  formation  of  them  to  the  labour  of  a  glafs  houfe  ;  and 
if  it  admits  the  exiflence  of  a  creating  Power,  it  will  rep- 
refent  him  as  a  mechanic  out  of  employment,  amufinghim- 
felf  with  making  globes,  merely  to  have  the  pleafure  of 
feeing  them  turn  round.  It  will  conclude,  from  its  own 
diforder,  that  there  is  no  fuch  thino-  as  order  in  Nature ; 
from  its  own  immorality,  that  there  is  no  morality.  As 
it  refers  every  thing  to  its  own  reafon,  and  feeing  no  rea- 
fon  for  exiflence,  when  it  fhall  be  no  longer  on  the  Earth, 
it  thence  concludes,  that,  in  faft,  it  fiiall  not  in  that  cafe 
exift.  To  be  confiftent,  it  ought  equally  to  conclude,  on 
the  fame  principle,  that  it  does  not  exill  now  ;  for  it  cer- 
tainly can  difcover,  neither  in  itfelf,  nor  in  any  thing  a- 
round,  an  a£lual  reafon  for  its  exiflence. 

We  ^re  convinced  ot  our  exiflence  by  a  power  greatly 
fuperior  to  our  mind,  which  is  fentiment,  or  intelleftual 
feeling.  We  are  going  to  carry  this  natural  inflin^t  along 
with  us  into  our  refearches  refpecling  the  exiflence  of  the 
Deity,  and  the  immortality  of  the  foul;  fubjefts,  on 
which  our  verfatile  reafon  has  fo  frequently  engaged, 
fometimes  on  this,  fometimes  on  the  other  fide  of  the  quell- 
ion.  Though  our  infufficiency  be  too  great  to  admit  of 
launching  far  into  this  unbounded  career,  we  prefume  to 
hope,  that  our  perceptions,  nay,  our  very  miflakes,  may 
encourage  men  of  genius  to  enter  upon  it.  Thefe  fub- 
lijtne  and  eternal  truths  fcem  to  us  fo  deeply  imprinted  on 


57*  A  VINDICATION  or 

the  human  heart,  as  to  appear  themfelves  the  principles 
of  our  intelleftual  feeling,   and  to  manifefl  themfelves  in 
our  mod  ordinary  affe£lions,  as  in  the  wildeft  excefTes  of 
our  pafTions. 
It 

OF  THE  SENTIMENT  OF  INNOCENCE. 


The  fentiment  of  innocence  exalts  us  toward  the  Dei- 
ty, and  prompts  us  to  virtuous  deeds.  The  Greeks  and 
Romans  employed  little  children  to  fing  in  their  relig- 
ious feftivals,  and  to  prefent  their  offerings  at  the  altar, 
in  the  view  of  rendering  the  Gods  propitious  to  their 
Country,  by  the  fpeftacle  of  infant  innocence.  The  fight 
of  infancy  calls  men  back  to  the  fentiments  of  Nature. 
When  Cato  of  Utica  had  formed  the  refolution  to  put 
himfelf  to  death,  his  friends  and  fervants  concealed  his 
fword ;  and  upon  his  demanding  it,  with  expreffions  of 
violent  indignation,  the.y  delivered  it  to  him  by  the  hand 
of  a  child  :  But  the  corruption  of  the  age  in  which  he 
lived,  had  ftifled  in  his  heart  the  fentiment  which  mno- 
cence  ought  to  have  excited. 

Jesus  Christ  recommends  to  us  to  become  as  little 
children  :  We  call  them  innocents,  non  7iocentes,  becaufe 
they  have  never  injured  any  one.  But,  notwithftanding 
the  claims  of  their  tender  age,  and  the  authority  of  the 
Chriflian  Religion,  to  what  barbarous  education  are  they 
not  abandoned  ? 


Of  PUy. 


The  fentiment  of  innocence  is  the  native  fource  of 
compaffion  ;  hence  we  are  more  deeply  affefted  by  the 
fufferings  of  a  child  than  by  thofe  of  an  old  man.  The  rea^ 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  373 

fon  is  not,  as  certain  Philofophers  pretend,  becaufe  the 
refources  and  hopes  of  the  child  are  inferior ;  for  they 
are,  in  truth,  greater  than  thofe  of  the  old  man,  who  is 
frequently  infirm,  and  haflening  to  diffolution  ;  whereas 
the  child  is  entering  into  life;  but  the  child  has  never  of- 
fended ;  he  is  innocent.  This  fentiment  extends  even  to 
animals,  which,  in  many  cafes,  excite  our  fympathy  more 
than  rational  creatures  do,  from  this  very  confideration, 
that  they  are  harmlefs.  This  accounts  for  the  idea  of  the 
good  La  Fontaine,  in  defcribing  the  Deluge,  in  his  fable- 
©f  Baucis  and  Philemon. 


Tout  difparut  fur  I'heurc, 

Les  vieillards  deploroient  ces  feveres  deftins: 
Les  animaux  perir  !  Car  encor  ]es  humains, 
Tous  avoient  du  tomber  fous  Ics  celeftes  armes, 
Baucis  en  repandit  en  fecret  quclques  larmes. 


All  difappcar'd  in  that  tremendous  hour. 

Age  felt  the  weight  of  Heaven's  infulted  power  : 

On  guilty  Man  the  ftroke  with  juftice  fell, 

But  harmlcfs^brutcs!— the  fiercencfs  who  can  tell 

Of  wrath  divine  ? — At  thought  of  this,  fome  tears 

Stole  down  the  cheeks  of  Baucis 


Thus  the  fentiment  of  innocence  developes,  m  the  heart 
of  Man,  a  divine  charafter,  which  is  that  of  generofity. 
It  bears,  not  on  the  calamity  abflraftedly  confidered,  but 
on  a  moral  quality,  which  it  difcerns  in  the  unfortunate 
being  who  is  the  objeft  of  it.  It  derives  increafe  from 
the  view  of  innocence,  and  fometimes  ftill  more  from 
that  of  repentance.  Man  alone,  of  all  animals,  is  fufcep- 
tible  of  it :  And  this,  not  by  a  fecret  retrofpeft  to  himfelf, 
as  fome  enemies  of  the  Human  Race  have  pretended  : 
For,  were  that  the  cafe,  on  ftating  a  comparifon  between 
a  child  and  an  old  man,  both  of  them  unfortunate,  we 
ought  to  be  more  aTfe6l€d  bv  the  mifery  of  the  old  man, 


374  A  VINDICATION  of 

confidering  that  weare  removing  from  the  wretchednefs  of 
childhood,  and  drawing  nearer  to  thofe  of  old  age:  The 
contrary,  however,  takes  place,  in  virtue  of  the  moral 
fentiment  which  I  have  alleged. 

When  an  old  man  is  virtuous,  the  moral  fentiment  of 
his  diftrefs  is  excited  in  us  with  redoubled  force  ;  this  is 
an  evident  proof,  that  pity  in  Man  is  by  no  means  an  an- 
imal aiFeftion.  The  fight  of  a  Belifarius  is,  accordingly 
a  moft  afFefting  objecl:.  If  you  heighten  it  by  the  intro- 
duftion  of  a  child  holding  out  his  little  hand  to  receive 
the  alms  bellowed  on  that  illuftrious  blind  beggar,  the  im- 
prefTion  of  pity  is  ftill  more  pow^erful.  ,  But  let  me  put  a 
fentimental  cafe.  Suppofe  you  had  fallen  in  with  Belifarius 
foliciting  charity,  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other, 
an  orphan  child,  blind  and  wretched,  and  that  you  had 
but  one  crown,  without  the  poflibility  of  dividing  it,  to. 
which  of  the  two  would  you  have  given  it  ? 

If  onrefle6lion  you  find,  that  the  eminent  fervices  ren- 
dered by  Belifarius  to  his  ungrateful  Country,  have  in- 
clined the  balance  of  fentiment  too  decidedly  in  his  fa- 
vour, fuppofe  the  child  overwhelmed  with  the  woes  of 
Belifarius^  and  at  the  fame  time  pofTefTrng  fome  of  his 
virtues,  fuch  as  having  his  eyes  put  out  by  his  parents, 
and,  neverthelefs,  continuing  to  beg  alm.s  for  their  re- 
lief;* there  would,  in  my  opinion,  be  no  room  for  hefita- 
tion,  provided  a  man  felt  only  :  For  if  you  reafon,  the 
cafe  is  entirely  altered ;  the  talents,  the  vi6lories,  the  re- 
nown of  the  Grecian  General,  would  prefently  abforb  the 
calamities  of  an  obfcure  child.  Reafon  will  recal  you  to 
the  political  intereft,  to  the  /   human. 

The  fentiment  of  innocence  is  a  ray  of  the  Divinity. 
It  invclls  the  unfortunate  perfon  with  a  celeflial  radiance, 

■^  The  reftor  of  a  country  village,  in  the  vicinity  of  Paris,  not  far  from 
Pravct,  underwent,  in  his  infancy,  a  piece  of  Inhumanity  not  lefs  barbarous, 
from  the  hands  of  his  parents.  He  fuficrcd  caflration  from  his  own  father, 
who  was  by  profcfTion  a  furgeon :  He,  neverthelefs,  fupported  that  unnat- 
.ja\  oari-nt  in  !iis  old  a^c.     I  believe  both  father  a:id  for.  are  ftill  in  life. 


DIVEINPROVIDENCE.  375 

which  falls  on  the  human  heart,  and  recoils,  kindling  it 
into  generofity,  that  other  flame  of  divine  original.  It 
alone  renders  us  fenfible  to  the  diftrefs  of  virtue,  by  rep- 
refenting  it  to  us  as  incapable  of  doing  harm  ;  for  other- 
wife,  we  might  be  induced  to  confider  it  as  fufficient  to 
itfelf.  In  tifiis  cafe  it  would  excite  rather  admiration 
than  pity. 


Of  the  Love  of  Country. 


This  fentiment  is,  ftill  farther,  the  fource  of  love  of 
Country,  becaufe  it  brings  to  our  recolleftion  the  gentle 
and  pure  afFeftions  of  our  earlier  years.  It  increafes 
with  extenfion,  and  expands  with  the  progrefs  of  time,  as 
a  fentiment  of  a  celeftial  and  immortal  nature.  They 
have,  in  Switzerland,  an  ancient  mufical  air,  and  extreme- 
ly fimple,  called  the  rans  des  vaches.  This  air  produces 
an  effeft  fo  powerful,  that  it  was  found  neceflary  to  pro- 
hibit the  playing  of  it,  in  Holland  and  in  France,  before 
the  Swifs  foldiers,  becaufe  it  fet  them  all  a  deferting  one 
after  another.  I  imagine  that  the  rans  des  vaches  muft 
imitate  the  lowing  and  bleating  of  the  cattle,  the  reper- 
cufTion  of  the  echoes,  and  other  local  affociations,  which 
made  the  blood  boil  in  the  veins  of  thofe  poor  foldiers, 
by  recalling  to  their  memory  the  valleys,  the  lakes,  the 
mountains  of  .their  Country,*  and,  at  the  fame  time,  the 

*  I  have  been  told  that  Poutaveri,  the  Indian  of  Ta'fti,  who  was  feme 
years  ago  brought  to  Paris,  on  feeing,  in  the  Royal  Garden,  the  paper 
mulberry  tree,  the  bark  of  which  is.  in  that  ifland,  manufaftured  into  cloth, 
the  tear  ftarted  to  his  eye,  and  clafping  it  in  his  arms,  he  exclaimed  :  Akl 
tree  of  my  country!  I  could  wifh  it  were  put  to  the  trial,  whether,  on  pre- 
fenting  to  a  foreign  bird,  fay  a  paroquet,  a  fruit  of  its  country,  which  it  had 
not  feen  for  a  conhderable  time,  it  would  exprefs  fome  extraordinary  emo- 
tion. Though  phyfical  fenfations  attach  us  ftrongly  to  Country,  moral  fen- 
tioients  alone  can  give  them  a  vehement  iaieufity.     Time,  which  blunts  the 


37^  A  VlxVDICATlON  of 

companions   of  their  early  life,  their  firft  loves,  the  re^ 
colleftion  of  their  indulgent  grandfathers,  and  the  like. 

The  love  ot  Country  feems  to  ftrengthen  in  proportion 
as  it  is  innocent  and  unhappy.  For  this  reafon  Savages 
are  fonder  of  their  Country  than  poliflied  Nations  are ; 
and  thofe  who  inhabit  regions  rough  and  wild,  fuch  as 
mountaineers,  than  thofe  who  live  in  fertile  countries  and 
fine  climates.  Never  could  the  Court  of  Ruflia  prevail 
upon  a  fingle  Samoiede  to  leave  the  fhores  of  the  Frozen 
Ocean,  and  fettle  at  Peterfburg.  Some  Greenlanders 
were  brought,  in  thecourfe  of  the  laft  century,  to  the  Court 
of  Copenhagen,  where  they  were  entertained  with  a  pro- 
I'ufion  of  kindnefs,  but  foon  fretted  themfelves  to  death. 
Several  of  them  were  drowned,  in  attempting  to  return  to 
their  Country  in  an  open  boat.  They  beheld  all  the  mag- 
nificence of  the  Court  of  Denmark  with  extreme  indiffer- 
ence ;  but  there  was  one,  in  particular,  whom  they  ob- 
ferved  to  weep  every  time  he  faw  a  woman  with  a  child 
in  her  arms  ;  hence  they  conjeftured  that  this  unfortunate 
man  was  a  father.  The  gentlenefs  of  domeftic  education, 
undoubtedly,  thus  powerfully  attaches  thofe  poor  people 
to  the  place  of  their  birth.  It  was  this  which  infpired  the 
Greeks  and  Romans  with  fo  much  courage  in  the  defence 
of  their  Country.  The  fentiment  of  innocence  ftrength- 
ens  the  love  of  it,  becaufe  it  brings  back  all  the  affeftions 
of  early  life,  pure,  facred  and  incorruptible.  Virgil  was 
well  acquainted  with  the  effeft  of  this  fentiment,  whea  he 
put  into  the  mouth  of  Nifus,  who  was  diffuading  Eurya- 
lu5  from  undertaking  a  nofchirnal  expedition,  fraught  with 
danger,  thofe  affe61ing  words  : 


former,  gives  only  a  keener  edge  to  the  latter.  For  this  reafun  it  is,  that 
veneration  tor  a  monument  is  always  in  proportion  to  its  antiquity,  or  to  its 
diftance ;.  this  explains  that  cxpreflion  of  Tacitus :  Major  v  lovginquo  rcvcrentUx 
Diftaiiceincreafes  reverence. 


DIVINE  PROVIlDENCE.  ^'j 

Te  fuperefle  velim  :  Tua  vita  dignior  «tas. 


If  thou  furvivc  me,  I  fliall  die  content  : 
Thy  tender  age  dcferves  the  longer  life. 

But  among  Nations  with  whom  infancy  is  rendered 
miferable,  and  is  corrupted  by  irkfome,  ferocious  and  un- 
natural education,  there  is  no  more  love  of  Country  than 
there  is  of  innocence.  This  is  one  of  the  caufes  which 
fends  fo  many  Europeans  a  rambling  over  the  World,  and 
which  accounts  for  our  having  fo  few  modern  monuments 
in  Europe,  becaufe  the  next  generation  never  fails  to  de- 
llroy  the  monuments  of  that  which  preceded  it.  This  is 
the  reafon  that  our  books,  our  fafhions,  our  cuftoms,  our 
ceremonies,  and  our  languages,  become  obfolete  fo  foon, 
and  are  entirely  different  this  age  from  what  they  were  in 
the  laft ;  whereas  all  thefe  particulars  continue  the  fame 
among  the  fedentary  Nations  of  Afia,  for  a  long  feries  of 
ages  together  ;  becaufe  children  brought  up  in  Afia,  in 
the  habitation  of  their  parents,  and  treated  with  much  gen- 
tlenefs,  remain  attached  to  the  eftablifhments  of  their  an- 
ceftors,  out  of  gratitude  to  their  memory,  and  to  the  places 
of  their  birth,  from  the  recolle6lion  of  their  happinefs  aa^ 
innocence. 


OF  THE  SENTIMENT  OF  ADMIRATION. 


The  fentiment  of  admiri^tion  tranfports  us  immediately 
into  the  bofom  of  Deity.  If  it  is  excited  in  us  by  an 
obje6l  which  infpires  delight,  we  convey  ourfelves  thither 
as  to  the  fource  of  joy  ;  if  terror  is  roufed,  we  flee  thither 
for  refuge.  In  either  cafe.  Admiration  exclaims  in  thefe 
words,  Ah,  my  God  I  This  is,   wc  are  told,  the  effea  of 

VOL.    II.  z  z 


378  A  VINDICATION  of 

education  merely,  in  the  courfe  of  which  frequent 
mention  is  made  of  the  name  of  God  ;  but  mention  is 
ilill  more  frequently  made  of  our  father,  of  the  king, 
of  a  proteftor,  of  a  celebrated  literary  charafter.  How- 
comes  it,  then,  that  when  we  feel  ourfelves  flanding  in 
need  of  fupport,  in  fuch  unexpefted  concuffions,  we  never 
exclaim,  Ak,  my  King  !  or,  if  Science  were  concerned. 
Ah,  Ntivton  ! 

It  is  certain,  that  if  the  name  of  God  be  frequently 
mentioned  to  us,  in  the  progrefs  of  our  education,  the  idea 
of  it  is  quickly  effaced  in  the  ufual  train  of  the  affairs  of 
this  World  ;  Why  then  have  we  recourfe  to  it  in  extraor- 
dinary emergencies  ?  This  fentiment  of  Nature  is  com- 
mon to  all  Nations,  many  of  whom  give  no  theological  in- 
ilruftion  to  their  children.  I  have  remarked  it  in  the 
Negroes  of  the  coafl  of  Guinea,  of  Madagafcar,  of  Cafre- 
rie,  and  Mofambique,  among  the  Tartars,  and  the  Indians 
of  the  Malabar  coaft ;  in  a  word,  among  men  of  every 
quarter  of  the  World.  I  never  faw  a  fmgle  one  who,  un- 
der the  extraordinary  emotions  of  furprife  or  of  admira- 
tion, did  not  make,  in  his  own  language,  the  fame  excla- 
mation which  we  do,  and  who  did  not  lift  up  his  hands 
and  his  eyes  to  Heaven. 


Of  ike  Marvellous 

The  fentiment  of  admiration  is  the  fource  of  the  in- 
ftinft  which  men  have,  in  every  age,  difcovered  for  the 
marvellous.  We  are  hunting  after  it  continually,  and 
every  where,  and  we  difFufe  it,  principally,  over  the  com- 
mencement and  the  clofe  of  human  life  :  Hence  it  is 
that  the  cradles  and  the  tombs  of  fo  great  a  part  of  Man- 
kind have  been  envelpped  in  fiQion.  It  is  the  perennial 
fource  of  our  curiofity  ;  it  difclofes  itfelf  from  early  in- 
fancy, and  is  long  the  companion  of  innocence.     Whence 


DIVEINPROVIDENCE.  379 

could  children  derive  the  tafte  for  the  marvellous  ?  They 
piull  have  Fairy  tales ;  and    men  mufl  have  epic  poems 
and  operas.     It  is  the   marvellous  which  conftitutes  one 
of  the  grand  charms  of  the  antique  ftatues  of  Greece  and 
Rome,  reprefenting  heroes  or  gods,  and  which  contributes, 
more  than  is  generally  imagined,   to  our  delight,  in  the 
perufal  of  the  ancient  Hiftory  of  thofe   Countries.     It  is 
one  of  the  natural  reafons  which  may  be  produced  to  the 
Prefident    Renault,   who  exprefTes   aftonifliment  that  we 
fhould  be  more  enamoured  of  ancient   Hiftory  than  of 
modern,   efpecially   that  of  our  own  country  :  The  truth 
is,  independently  of  the  patriotic  fentiments,  which  ferve, 
at  leaft,  as  a  pretext  to  the  intrigues   of  the  great  men  of 
Greece  and  Rome,  and  which  were  fo  entirely  unknown 
to  ours,  that  they  frequently  embroiled  their  country  in 
maintaining  the  interefts  of  a  particular  houfe,  and  fomc- 
times  in  afferting  the   honour  of  precedency,  or  of  fitting 
on  a  joint  ftool ;  there  is  a  marvellous  in  the  religion  of 
the  Ancients  which  confoles  and  elevates  human  nature, 
whereas  that  of  the  Gauls  terrifies  and  debafes  it.     The 
gods  of  the  Greeks  and   the  Romans   were  patriots,  like 
their  great  men.     Minerva  had  given  them  the  olive,  N'ep^ 
tune  the   horfe.     Thefe  gods  protefted  the  cities  and  the 
people.     But  thofe   of  the  ancient  Gauls  were  tyrants, 
like  their  Barons ;  they  afforded  proteaion  only  to  the 
Druids.     They   muft  be  glutted  with   human  facrifices. 
In  a  word,  this  religion  was  fo  inhuman,  that  two  fuccef. 
five  Roman  Emperors,  according  to  the  teftimonf  oi Sue- 
tonius and  Pli?i)'y   commanded  it  to  be  abolifhed.     I  fay 
nothing  of  the  modern  interefts  of  our  Hiftory  ;  but  fure 
1  am  that  the  relations  of  our  politics   will  never  replace 
in  it,  to  the  heart  ot  Man,  thofe  of  the  Divinity. 

1  muft  obferve  that,  as  admiration  is  an  involuntary 
movement  of  the  Soul  toward  Deity,  and  is,  of  confe- 
quence,  fublime,  feveral  modern  Authors  have  ftrained 
to  multiply  this  kind  of  beauty  in  their  produ6Hons,  by 
an  accumulation  of  furprifing  incidents  ;  but  Nature  cm^ 


^U  A  VINDICATION  or 

ploys  them  fparingly  in  hers,  becaufe  Man  is  incapable  of 
frequently  undergoing  concuflions  fo  violent.  She  dif- 
clofesto  us,  by  little  and  little,  the  light  of  the  Sun,  the 
expanfion  of  flowers,  the  formation  of  fruits.  She  grad- 
ually introduces  our  enjoyments  by  a  long  feries  of  har- 
monies ;  fhe  treats  us  as  human  beings  ;  that  is,  as  ma- 
chines feeble  and  eafily  deranged  ;  fhe  veils  Deity  from 
our  view,  that  we  may  be  able  to  fupport  his  approach. 


The  Pleajure  of  Myjiery 


This  is  the  reafon  that  myftery  poffefTes  fo  many  charms, 
Piftures  placed  in  the  full  glare  of  light,  avenues  in  ftraight 
lines,  rofes  fully  blown,  women  in  gaudy  apparel,  are 
far  from  being  the  objefts  which  pleafe  us  moft.  But 
fhady  valleys,  paths  winding  about  through  the  forefts, 
flowers  fcarcely  half  opened,  and  timid  fhepherde (Tes,  ex- 
cite in  us  the  fweeteft  and  the  moft  lafting  emotions. 
The  lovelinefs  and  refpeftability  of  obje8;s  are  increafed 
by  their  myfterioufnefs.  Sometimes  it  is  that  of  antiq- 
uity, which  renders  fo  many  monuments  venerable  m 
our  eyes  ;  fometimes  it  is  that  of  diftance,  which  dif- 
fufes  fo  many  charms  over  obje6ls  in  the  Horizon ; 
fometimes  it  is  that  of  names.  Hence  the  Sciences 
which  retain  the  Greek  names,  though  they  frequently 
denote  only  the  moft  ordinary  things,  have  a  more  impof- 
ing  air  of  refpeft  than  thofe  which  have  only  modern 
names,  though  thefe  may,  in  many  cafes,  be  more  ingeni- 
ous and  more  ufeful.  Hence,  for  example,  the  conftruc- 
tion  of  flilps,  and  the  art  of  navigation,  are  more  lightly 
prized  by  our  modern  literati,  than  feveral  other  phyfical 
fciences  of  the  moft  frivolous  nature,  but  which  are  dig- 
nified by  Greek  names.  Admiration,  accordingly,  is  not 
*  relation  of  the  underftanding,  or  a  perception  of  ouf 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  ^U 

reafon;  but  a  fentiment  of  the  foul,  which  arifes  in  us, 
from  a  certain  undefcribable  inftinfl  of  Deity,  at  fight 
of  extraordinary  objefts,  and  from  the  very  myfterioufnefs 
in  which  they  are  involved.  This  is  fo  indubitably  cer- 
tain, that  admiration  is  deftroyed  by  the  fcience  which  en- 
lightens us.  If  I  exhibit  to  a  favage  an  eolipile  darting; 
out  a  ftream  of  inflamed  fpirit  of  wine,  I  throw  him  into 
an  ecftafy  of  admiration  ;  he  feels  himfelf  difpofed  to  fall 
down  and  worfliip  the  machine  ;  he  venerates  me  as  the 
the  God  of  Fire,  as  long  as  he  comprehends  it  not ;  bu^ 
no  fooner  do  I  explain  to  him  the  nature  of  the  proc- 
efs,  than  his  admiration  ceafes,  and  he  looks  upon  me  as 
a  cheat.* 


T/ic  Pleafures  of  Ignorance. 


Erom  an  efTefl  of  thofe  ineffable  fentiments,  and  o^ 
thofe  univerfal  inftin^fs  of  Deity,  it  is,  that  ignorance  is 
become  the  inexhauftible  fource  ot  delight  to  Man.  We 
mu ft  take  care  not  to  confound,  as  all  our  Moralifts  do, 
ignorance  and  error.  Ignorance  is  the  work  of  Nature, 
and,  in  many  cafes,  a  blefling  to  Man  ;  whereas  error  is 
frequently  the  fruit  of  our  pretended  human  Sciences, 
and  is  always   an  evil.     Let   our  political    Writers   fay 

*  For  this  reafon  it  is  that  we  admire  only  that  which  is  uncommon. 
Were  there  to  appear,  over  the  Horizon  of  Paris,  one  of  thofe  parhelia 
which  are  fo  common  at  SpiczbergCB,  the  whole  inhabitants  of  the  city 
would  be  in  the  ftrcets  to  gaze  at  it,  and  wonder.  It  is  nothing  more,  how- 
ever, than  a  reflefticn  of  the  Sun's  difk  in  the  clouds  ;  and  no  one  ftandsi 
ftill  to  contemplate  the  Sun  himfelf,  becaufe  the  Sun  is  an  object  too  well 
known  to  be  admired. 

It  is  myflery  which  ccnftiiutes  one  of  the  charms  of  Religion.  ThoQ; 
who  infill  upon  a  geometrical  demonftration  on  this  fubjeft,  betray  a  pro- 
found ignorance,  at  cnce,  of  the  Laws  of  Nature,  and  of  the  demands  of 
tbehursan  heart. 


332  A  VINDICATION  of 

what  they  will,  while  they  boaft  of  owr  wonderful  prog- 
refs  in  knowledge,  and  oppofe  to  it  the  barbarifm  of  pail 
dges,  it  was  not  ignorance  which  then  fet  all  Europe  on 
fire,  and  inundated  it  with  blood,  in  fettling  religious  dif- 
putations,  A  race  of  ignorants  would  have  kept  them- 
felves  quiet.  The  mifchief  was  done  by  perfons  who- 
were  under  the  power  of  error,  who,  at  that  time,  vaunted 
as  much,  perhaps,  of  their  fuperior  illumination,  t(s  we 
now  a  days  do  of  ours,  and  into  each  of  whom  the  Euro- 
pean fpirit  of  education  had  inftilled  this  error  of  early 
infancy,  Be  thejirjl. 

How  many  evils  does  ignorance  conceal  from  us, 
which  we  are  doomed  one  day  to  encounter,  in  the  courfe 
of  human  life,  beyond  the  poflibility  of  efcaping  !  the  in- 
conflancy  of  friends,  the  revolutions  of  fortune,  calum- 
nies, and  the  hour  of  death  itfelf,  fo  tremendous  to  mod 
men.  The  knowledge  of  ills  like  thefe  would  mar  all 
the  comfort  of  living.  How  many  bleflings  does  ignor- 
ance render  fublime !  the  illufions  of  friendfhip,  and 
thofe  of  love,  the  perfpeftives  of  hope,  and  the  very  treaf- 
iires  which  Science  unfolds.  The  Sciences  infpire  de- 
light only  when  we  enter  upon  the  ftudy  of  them,  at  the 
period  when  the  mind,  in  a  ftate  of  ignorance,  plunges 
into  the  great  career.  It  is  the  point  of  contaft  between 
light  and  darknefs,  which  prefents  to  the  eye  the  moft  fa- 
vourable flate  of  vifion  :  This  is  the  harmonic  point, 
which  excites  our  admiration,  when  we  are  beginning  to 
fee  clearly  ;  but  it  lafis  only  a  fingle  inflant.  It  vanifhes 
together  with  ignorance.  The  elements  of  Geometry 
may  have  impallioned  young  minds,  but  never  the  aged, 
linlefs  in  the  cafe  of  certain  illuftrious  Mathematicians, 
who  were  proceeding  from  difcovery  to  difcovery.  Tliofe 
fcienaes  only,  and  thofe  paflions,  which  are  fubjefted  to 
doubt  and  chance,  form  enthufiafls  at  every  age  of  life, 
fiich  as  chemiftry,  avarice,  play  and  love. 

For  one  pleafure  which  Science  beflows,  and  caufes  t9 
iDcrifli  in  the  bellowing,  ignorance   prefents.   us    with  a 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  383 

ihoufand,  which  flatter  us  infinitely  more.  You  demon- 
ftrate  to  me  that  the  Sun  is  a  fixed  globe,  the  attraftion  of 
which  gives  to  the  planets  one  halt  of  their  movements. 
Had  they,  who  believed  it  to  be  conduced  round  the 
Wdrld  by  Apollo,  an  idea  lefs  fublime  ?  They  imagined, 
at  leaft,  that  the  attention  of  a  God  pervaded  the  Earth, 
together  with  the  rays  of  the  Orb  of  Day.  It  is  Science 
which  has  dragged  down  the  chafte  Diana  from  her  noc- 
turnal car  :  She  has  banifhed  the  Hamadryads  from  the 
antique  forefts,  and  the  gentle  Naiads  from  the  founuins. 
Ignorance  had  invited  the  Gods,  to  partake  of  its  joys 
and  its  woes ;  to  Man's  wedding,  and  to  his  grave ;  Sci- 
ence difcerns  nothing  in  either,  except  the  elements  mere- 
ly. She  has  abandoned  Man  to  his  fellow,  and  thrown 
him  upon  the  Earth  as  into  a  defert.  Ah  !  whatever  may 
be  the  names  which  fhe  gives  to  the  different  kingdoms 
of  Nature,  celeftial  fpirits,  undoubtedly,  regulate  their 
combinations  fo  ingenious,  fo  varied  and  fo  uniform : 
and  Man,  who  could  beftow  nothing  upon  himfelf,  is  not 
the  only  being  in  the  Univerfe  who  partakes  of  intelli- 
gence. 

It  is  not  to  the  illumination  of  Science  that  tlie  Deity 
communicates  the  mofl  profound  fentiment  of  his  attri- 
butes, but  to  our  ignorance.  Night  conveys  to  the  mind 
a  much  grander  idea  of  infinity  than  all  the  glare  of  day. 
In  the  daytime,  1  fee  but  one  Sun ;  during  the  night  I 
difcern  thoufands.  Are  thofe  very  liars,  fo  varioufly 
coloured,  really  Suns  ?  Are  thofe  planets,  which  revolve 
around  ours,  aftually  inhabited,  as  ours  is  ?  From  whence 
came  the  planet  Cybele,*  difcovered  but  yefterday,  by  a 
German  of  the  name  of  Herjchd  ?  It  has  been  running 
its  race  from  the  beginning  of  the  Creation,  and  was,  till 
of  late,  unknown  to  us.  Whither  go  thofe  uncertainly 
revolving  comets,  traverfing  the  regions  of  unbounded 

*  ThcEnglilh,  in  compliment  to  their  Sovereign,  Gecr^i  III,  give  it  tljc 
Same  of  Ceor^ium  5idus. 


Zh  A   v'INDICATION  OF 

fpace  ?  Oi  what  confifls  that  milky  way  which  divides 
the  firmament  of  Heaven  ?  What  are  thofe  two  dark 
clouds,  placed  toward  the  Antarftic  Pole,  near  the  crofs 
of  the  South  ?  Can  there  be  ftars  which  difFufe  darknefs, 
conformably  to  the  belief  of  the  Ancients  ?  Are  there 
places  in  the  firmament  which  the  light  never  reaches  ? 
The  Sun  difcovers  to  me  only  a  terreftrial  infinity,  and 
tlie  night  difclofes  an  infinity  altogether  celeftial.  O, 
mvflerious  ignorance,  draw  thy  hallowed  curtains  over 
thofe  enchanting  fpeftacles !  Permit  not  human  Science 
to  apply  to  them  its  cheerlefs  compafl^es.  Let  not  virtue 
be  reduced,  henceforth,  to  look  for  her  reward  from  the 
juftice  and  the  fenfibility  of  a  Globe  !  Permit  her  to 
think  that  there  are  in  the  Univerfe,  deftinies  far  differ- 
ent from  thofe  which  fill  up  the  meafure  of  woe  upon! 
this  Earth. 

Science  is  continually  (hewing  us  the  boundary  of  our 
reafon,  and  ignorance  is  for  ever  removing  it.  1  take 
care,  in  my  folitary  rambles,  not  to  afk  information  re- 
fpecting  the  name  and  quality  of  the  perfon  who  owns 
the  callle  which  1  perceive  at  a  diftance.  The  hiftory  of 
the  mafter  frequently  disfigures  that  of  the  landfcape.  It 
is  not  fo  with  the  Hiftory  of  Nature  ;  the  more  her  Works 
are  ftudied,  the  more  is  our  admiration  excited.  There 
is  one  cafe  only  in  which  the^  knowledge  of  the  works  of 
men  is  agreeable  to  us,  it  is  when  the  monument  which 
we  contemplate  has  been  the  abode  ot  goodnefs.  What 
Httle  fpire  is  that  which  I  pei-ceive  at  Montmorency  ?  It 
is  that  of  Saint  Gratian,  where  Catinat  lived  the  life  of  a 
fage,  and  under  which  his  afhes  are  laid  to  reft.  My 
foul,  circumfcribed  within  the  precinfts  of  a  fmall  village, 
takes  its  flight,  and  ranges  over  the  capacious  fphere  of 
the  age  of  Louis  XIV,  and  haftens  thence  to  expatiate 
through  a  fphere  more  fublime  than  that  of  the  World, 
the  fphere  of  virtue.  When  I  am  incapable  of  procur- 
ing for  myfeif  fuch  perfpe6lives  as  thefe,  ignorance  of 
places  anfwcis  my  purpofe  much  better  than  the  knowU 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  385 

edge  of  them  could  do.  I  have  no  occafion  to  be  inform- 
ed that  fuch  a  foreft  belongs  to  an  Abbey  or  to  a  Dutchy, 
in  order  to  feel  how  majeftic  it  is.  Its  ancient  trees,  its 
profound  glades,  its  folemn,  filent  folitudes,  are  fufficient 
for  me.  The  moment  I  ceafe  to  behold  Man  there,  that 
moment  I  feel  a  prefent  Deity.  Let  me  give  ever  fo  lit- 
tle fcope  to  my  fentiment,  there  is  no  landfcape  but 
what  I  am  able  to  ennoble.  Thefe  vafl  meadows  are 
metamorphofed  into  Oceans  ;  thefe  mift  clad  hills  are 
iflands  emerging  above  the  Horizon  ;  that  city  below,  is 
a  city  of  Greece,  dignified  by  the  refidence  of  Socrates 
and  of  Xenophon.  Thanks  to  my  ignorance,  I  can  give 
the  reins  to  the  inflinft  of  my  foul.  I  plunge  into  infin- 
ity. I  prolong  the  diftance  of  places  by  that  of  ages  ; 
and,  to  complete  the  illufion,  I  make  that  enchanted  fpot 
the  habitation  of  virtue. 


OF  THE  SENTIMENT  OF  MELANCHOLY. 


So  beneficent  is  Nature,  that  fhe  converts  all  her  phe- 
nomena into  fo  many  fources  of  pleafure  to  Man  ;  and  if 
We  pay  attention  to  her  procedure,  it  will  be  found,  that 
her  moft  common  appearances  are  the  mofl;  agreeable. 

I  enjoy  pleafure,  for  example,  when  the  rain  defcends 
in  torrents,  when  I  fee  the  old  molTy  walls  dripping,  and 
when  I  hear  the  whiftling  of  the  wind,  mingled  with  the 
clattering  of  the  rain.  Thefe  melancholy  founds,  in  the 
night  time,  throw  me  into  a  foft  and  profound  fleep.  Nei- 
ther am  I  the  only  perfon  fufceptible  of  fuch  affcftions. 
Pliny  tells  us  of  a  Roman  Conful,  who,  when  it  rained, 
had  his  couch  fpread  under  the  thick  foliage  of  a  tree,  in 
order  to  hear  the  drops  clatter  as  they  tell,  and  to  be  lull- 
ed to  deep  by  the  murmuring  noife. 

VOL.   ir.  A  a  a 


386  A  VINDICATION  of 

I  cannot  tell  to  what  phyfical  Law  Philofophers  may 
reier  the  fenfatlons  of  melancholy.  For  my  own  part,  I 
confider  them  as  the  mod  voluptuous  affeftions  of  the  fouL 
Melancholy,  fays  Michael  Montaigne,  is  dainty.  It  pro- 
ceeds, if  1  am  not  miflaken,  from  its  gratifying,  at  once, 
the  two  powers  of  which  we  are  formed,  the  body  and  the 
foul  ;  the  fentiment  of  our  mifery,  and  that  of  our  excel- 
lence. 

Thus,  for  example,  in  bad  weather,  the  fentiment  of  my 
human  mifery  is  tranquillized,  by  my  feeing  it  rain,  while 
1  am  under  cover ;  by  my  hearing  the  wind  blow  violent- 
ly, while  I  am  comfortably  in  bed.  1,  in  this  cafe,  enjoy 
a  negative  felicity.  With  this  are  afterwards  blended 
lome  of  thofe  attributes  of  the  Divinity,  the  perceptions 
of  which  communicate  fuch  exquifite  pleafure  to  the  foul ; 
fuch  as  infinity  of  extenfion,  from  the  diflant  murmuring 
of  the  wind.  This  fentiment  may  be  heightened  from  re- 
flexion on  the  Laws  of  Nature,  fuggefting  to  me  that  this 
rain,  which  comes,  for  the  fake  of  fuppofition,  from  the 
Weft,  has  been  raifed  out  of  thebofomof  the  Ocean,  and, 
perhaps,  from  the  coafts  of  America  ;  that  it  has  been  fent 
to  fweep  our  great  cities  into  cleanlinefs,  to  replenifh  the 
refcrvoirs  of  our  fountains  ;  to  render  our  rivers  naviga- 
ble ^  and  whilft  the  clouds,  which  pour  it  down,  are  ad- 
vancing eaftward,  to  convey  fertility  even  to  the  vegetii- 
bles  of  Tartary,  the  grains  and  the  garbage,  which  it  car- 
ries down  our  rivers,  are  hurling  away  weftward,  to  pre- 
cipitate themfclvcs  into  the  Sea,  to  feed  the  fifhes  of  the 
Atlantic  Ocean.  Thefe  excurfions  of  my  underftanding 
convey  to  the  foul  an  extenfion  correfponding  to  its  na- 
ture, and  appear  to  me  fo  much  the  more  pleafing,  that  the 
bodv,  which,  for  its  part  loves  rcpofe,  is  more  tranquil, 
and  more  completely  protefted. 

If  I  am  in  a  ibrrowful  mood,  and  not  difpofed  to  fend 
my  foul  on  an  excurfion  fo  extenfive,  1  Hill  feel  much 
pleafure  in  giving  way  to  the  melancholy  which  the  bad 
weather  infpires.     It  looks  as  if  Nature  was  then  conform^ 


DIVEINPROVIDENCE.  387 

ing  to  my  fituatlon,  like  a  fympathizing  friend.  She  is, 
befides,  at  all  times  fo  interefting,  under  whatever  afpea 
Hie  exhibits  herfelf,  that  when  it  rains,  I  think  I  fee  a 
beautiful  w^oman  in  tears.  She  feems  to  me  more  beau- 
tiful, the  more  that  flie  wears  the  appearance  of  affliftion. 
In  order  to  be  impreffed  with  thele  fentiments,  which  I 
venture  to  call  voluptuous,  1  mufl;  have  noprojeft  in  hand 
of  a  pleafant  walk,  of  vifiting,  of  hunting,  of  journeying, 
which,  in  fuch  circumftances,  would  put  me  into  bad  hu- 
mour, from  being  contradiBed.  Much  lefs  ought  our 
two  component  powers  to  crofs,  or  clafli  againft  each 
other,  that  is,  to  let  the  fentiment  of  infinity  bear  upon 
our  mifery,  by  thinking  that  this  rain  w^ill  never  have  an 
end  ;  and  that  of  our  mifery  to  dwell  on  the  phenomena 
of  Nature,  by  complaining  that  the  feafons  are  quite  de- 
ranged, that  order  no  longer  reigns  in  the  elements,  and 
thus  giving  into  all  the  peevifli,  inconclufive  reafonings, 
adopted  by  a  man  who  is  wet  to  the  fkin.  In  order  to  the 
enjoyment  of  bad  weather,  our  foul  muft  be  travelling  a- 
broad,  and  the  body  at  reft. 

From  the  harmony  of  thofe  two  powers  of  our  con- 
ftitutions  it  is,  that  the  moft  terrible  revolutions  of  Nature 
frequently  intereft  us  more  than  her  gayeft  fcenery.  The 
volcano  near  Naples  attraas  more  travellers  to  that  city, 
than  the  delicious  gardens  which  adorn  her  Ihores  ;  the 
plains  of  Greece  and  Italy,  overfpread  with  ruins,  more 
than  the  richly  cultivated  lawns  of  England  ;  the  piaure 
of  a  tempeft,  more  connoifTeurs  than  that  of  a  calm  ; 
and  the  fall  of  a  tower,  more  fpeaators  than  its  conllruc- 
t-ion. 


g88  A  VINDICATION  of 


The  P  leaf  lire  of  Ruin. 


I  was  for  fome  time  imprefled  with  the  beljef,  that  Mas 
had  a  certain  unaccountable  tafte  for  deflruftion.  If  the 
populace  can  lay  their  hands  upon  a  monument,  they  are 
fure  to  deftroy  it.  I  have  feen  at  Drefden,  in  the  gardens 
of  the  Count  de  Brithl^  beautiful  ftatues  of  females,  which 
the  PrufTian  foldiery  had  amufed  themfelves  with  mutilat- 
ing by  mulket  fhot,  when  they  got  pofTeflion  of  that  city. 
Moll  of  the  common  people  have  a  turn  for  flander ;  they 
take  pleafure  in  levelling  the  reputation  of  all  that  is  ex- 
alted. But  this  malevolent  inftinft  is  not  the  produftion 
of  Nature.  It  is  infufed  by  the  mifery  of  the  individuals, 
whom  education  infpires  with  an  ambition  which  is  inter- 
dicted by  Society,  and  which  throws  them  into  a  negative 
ambition.  Incapable  of  raifing  any  thing,  they  are  impel- 
led to  lay  every  thing  low.  The  tafte  for  ruin,  in  this 
cafe,  is  not  natural,  and  is  {imply  the  exercife  of  the  pow- 
er of  the  miferable.  Man,  in  a  favage  ftate,  deflroys  the 
monuments  only  of  his  enemies  ;  he  preferves,  with  the 
moft  afiiduous  care,  thofe  of  his  own  Nation  ;  and,  what 
proves  iiim  to  be  naturally  much  better  than  Man  in  a 
ftate  ot  Society,  he  never  ilanders  his  compatriots. 

Be  it  as  it  may,  the  paflive  tafle  for  ruin  is  univerfal. 
Our  voluptuaries  embellifh  their  gardens  with  artificial 
ruins  ;  favages  take  delight  in  a  melancholy  repofe  by  the 
brink  of  the  Sea,  efpecially  duilng  a  llorm,  or  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  a  cafcade  furrounded  by  rocks.  Magnificent 
deflrutlion  prefents  new  piflurefque  efFe6ls  ;  and  it  was 
the  curiofity  of  feeing  this  produced,  combined  with  cru- 
elty, which  impelled  Nero  to  fet  Rome  on  fire,  that  he 
Tnight  enjoy  the  fpeftaclc  of  a  vail  conflagration.  The 
(entiment  of  humanity  out  of  the  queflion,   thofe  long 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  389 

ftreams  of  Flame  which,  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  lick 
the  Heavens,  to  make  ufe  of  Virgil'^  expreffion,  thofe 
torrents  of  red  and  black  fmoke,  thofe  clouds  of  fparks  of 
all  colours,  thofe  fcarlet  reverberations  in  the  llreets,  on 
the  fummit  of  towers,  along  the  furface  of  the  waters,  and 
on  the  diftant  mountains,  give  us  pleafure  even  in  pidurcs 
and  in  defcriptions. 

This  kind  of  afFe6lion,  which  is  by  no  means  connefted 
with  our  phyfical  wants,  has  induced  certain  Philofophers 
to  allege,  that  our  foul,  being  in  a  flate  of  agitation,  took 
pleafure  in  all  extraordinary  emotions.  This  is  the  rea- 
fon,  fay  they,  that  fuch  crowds  affemble  in  the  PiacQ 
de  Greve  to  fee  the  execution  of  criminals.  In  fpe6la- 
cles  of  this  fort,  there  is,  in  faft,  no  pifturefque  effeft 
whatever.  But  they  have  advanced  their  axiom  as  (light- 
ly as  fo  many  others,  with  which  their  Works  abound, 
Firft,  our  foul  takes  pleafure  in  reft  as  much  as  in  com- 
motion. It  is  a  harmony  very  gentle,  and  very  eafily  dif- 
turbed  by  violent  emotions  ;  and  granting  it  to  be,  in  its 
own  nature,  a  movement,  I  do  not  fee  that  it  ought  to 
take  pleafure  in  thofe  which  threaten  it  with  its  own  de- 
ftruftion.  Lucretius  has,  in  my  opinion,  come  much  near- 
er to  the  truth,  when  he  fays  that  talles  of  this  fort  arife 
from  the  fentiment  of  our  owm  fecurity,  which  is  height- 
ened by  the  fight  of  danger  to  which  we  are  not  expoled. 
It  is  a  pleafant  thing,  fays  he,  to  contemplate  a  ftorm  trom 
the  fhore.  It  is,  undoubtedly,  from  this  reference  to  fell, 
that  the  common  people  take  delight  in  relating,  by  the 
fire  fide,  collecfed  in  a  family  way,  during  the  V/inter 
evenings,  frightful  ftories  of  ghofts,  of  men  lofing  them- 
felves  by  night  in  the  woods,  of  highway  robberies.  From 
the  fame  fentiment,  likewife,  it  is,  that  the  better  fort  take 
pleafure  in  the  reprefentation  of  tragedies,  and  in  reading 
the  defcription  of  battles,  of  Ihipwrecks,  and  ot  the  crafn 
of  empire.  The  fecurity  of  the  fnug  tradefman  is  in- 
creafed  by  the  danger  to  which  the  foldier,  the  niariner, 
fhe  CQurtier  is  expofed.     Pleafure  of  this  kind  arifes  troin 


390  A  VINDICATION  of 

the  fentiment  of  our  mifery,  which  is,  as  has  been  faiJ, 
one  of  the  inflinfts  of  our  melancholy. 

But  there  is  in  us,  befides,  a  fentiment  more  fublime, 
which  derives  pleafure  from  ruin,  independently  of  all 
pifturefque  effeft,  and  of  every  idea  of  perfonal  fecurity  ; 
it  is  that  of  Deity,  which  ever  blends  itfelf  with  our  mel- 
ancholy affeftions,  and  which  conflitutes  their  principal 
charm.  I  fhall  attempt  to  unfold  fome  of  the  charafters 
of  it,  by  following  the  imrreffions  made  upon  us  by  ruins 
of  different  kinds.  The  fubjeft  is  both  rich  and  new  ; 
but  I  poffefs  neither  leifure  nor  ability  to  bellow,  upon  it, 
a  profound  inveftigation.  1  fhall  however  drop  a  few 
words  upon  it,  by  the  way,  in  the  \'iew  of  exculpating 
and  exalting  human  nature  with  what  ability  1  have. 

The  heart  of  man  is  fo  naturally  difpofed  to  benevo- 
lence^ that  the  fpeftacle  of  a  ruin,  which  brings  to  our 
recolleftion  only  the  mifery  of  our  fellow  men,  infpires 
us  with  horror,  whatever  may  be  the  pifturefque  efFe6l 
which  it  prefents.  I  happened  to  be  at  Drefden,  in  the 
year  1765,  which  was  feveral  years  after  it  had  been  bom- 
barded. That  fmall,  but  very  beautiful  and  commercial 
city,  more  than  half  compofed  of  little  palaces,  charming- 
ly arranged,  the  fronts  of  which  were  adorned  externally 
with  paintings,  colonades,  balconies,  and  pieces  of  fculp- 
ture,  then  prefentcd  a  pile  of  ruins.  A  confiderable  part 
of  the  .enemy's  bombs  had  been  direfted  againfl  the  Lu- 
theran church,  called  St.  Peter's,  built  in  form  of  a  ro- 
tundo,  and  arched  over  with  fo  much  folidity,  that  a  great 
number  of  thofe  bombs  ftruck  the  cupola,  without  being 
able  to  injure  it,  but  rebounded  on  the  adjoining  palaces, 
which  they  fet  on  fire,  and  partly  confumed.  Matters 
were  ftill  in  the  fame  (late  as  at  the  conclufion  of  the  war, 
at  the  time  of  my  arrival.  They  had  only  piled  up,  a- 
long  fome  ot  the  ftreets,  the  ftones  which  encumbered 
them  ;  fo  that  they  formed,  on  each  fide,  long  parapets  of 
blackened  flone.  You  might  fee  halves  of  palaces  lland- 
i::g,  laid  open  from  the  roof  down  to  the  cellars.     It  was 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  391 

eafy  to  diftinguifh  in  them  the  extremity  of  (lair  cafes, 
painted  cielings,  little  clofets  lined  with  Chinefc  papers,- 
fragments  of  mirror  glaffes,  of  marble  chimnies,  of  fmok- 
ed  gildings.  Of  others,  nothing  remained,  except  maffy 
ftacks  of  chimneys  rifmg  amidft  tlie  rubbi{h,'like  long 
black  and  white  pyramids.  More  than  a  third  part  of  the 
city  was  reduced  to  this  deplorable  condition.  You  faw 
the  inhabitants  moving  backward  and  forward,  with  a  fet- 
tled gloom  on  their  faces,  formerly  fo  gay,  that  they  were 
called  the  Frenchmen  of  Germany.  Thofe  ruins,  which 
exhibited  a  multitude  of  accidents  fingularly  remarkable, 
from  their  forms,  their  colours  and  their  grouping,  threw 
the  mind  into  a  deep  melancholy ;  for  you  faw  nothing 
in  them  but  the  traces  of  the  wrath  of  a  King,  who  had 
not  levelled  his  vengeance  againft  the  ponderous  ramparts 
of  a  warlike  city,  but  againft  the  pleafant  dwellings  of  an 
i-nduftrious  people.  I  obferved  even  more  than  one  Pruf- 
fian  deeply  aflfefted  at  the  fight.  I  by  no  means  felt, 
though  a  ftranger,  that  refleftion  of  felf  fecuritv  which 
arifes  in  us  on  feeing  a  danger  againft  which  we  arc  fbel- 
tered ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  a  voice  of  affiiftion  thril- 
led through  my  heart,  faying  to  me,  if  cJiis  were  thy  Coun^ 
try  I 

It  is  not  fo  with  ruins  which  are  the  cffetl  of  time. 
Thefe  give  pleafure  by  launching  us  into  infinity ;  they 
carry  us  feveral  ages  back,  and  intcrell  us  in  proportion 
to  their  antiquity.  This  is  the  reafon  that  the  ruins  of 
Italy  afFe6l  us  more  than  thofe  of  our  o^vn  country  ;  the 
ruins  of  GrcQce  more  than  thofe  of  Italy  ;  and  the  ruins 
of  Egypt  more  than  thofe  of  Greece.  The  firfl  antique 
monument  which  I  had  ever  feen  was  in  the  vicinity  of 
Orange.  It  was  a  triumphal  arch,  which  Man  us  caufed 
to  be  erected,  to  commemorate  his  viftory  over  the  Ciin- 
bri.  It  flands  at  a  fmall  diftance  from  the  city,  in  the 
midft  of  fields.  It  is  an  oblon"-  mafs,  confillinff  of  three 
arcades,  fomewhat  refembling  the  gate  of  St.  Denis.  On 
getting  neur,   I   became  all  eyes   to  gaze  at    it.     \^^hat .' 


^^i,  A  VINDICATION  OF 

exclaimed  I,  a  work  of  the  ancient  Romans !  and  imagifi- 
ation  inftantly  hurried  me  away  to  Rome,  and  to  the  age 
of  Marius.  It  would  not  be  eafy  for  me  to  defcribe  all 
the  fucceflive  emotions  which  were  excited  in  my  breaft. 
In  the  firft  place,  this  monument,  though  ere61ed  over 
iht.  fufferings  of  Mankind,  as  all  the  triumphal  arches  in 
Europe  are^  gave  me  no  pain,  for  I  recollefted  that  the- 
Cim.bri  had  come  to  invade  Italy^  like  bands  of  Robbers. 
1  remarked,  that  if  this  triumphal  arch  was  a  memorial  of 
tlve- vi61ories  of  the  Romans  over  the  Cimbri,  it  was  like- 
wife  a  monument  of  the  triumph  of  time  over  the  Romans, 
I  could  diftinguifli  upon  it,  in  the  bafs  relief  of  the  frize, 
which  reprefents  a  battle^  an  enfign,  containing  thefe  char- 
afters,  clearly  legible,  S.  P.  Q.  R.  Senatus  Populus  Qui 
Romanus;  and  another  infcribed  with  M.  0....the  mean- 
ing of  which  1  could  not  make  out.  As  to  the  warriors,, 
they  were  fo  completely  effaced,  that  neither  their  arms 
nor  their  features  were  diftinguifhable.  Even  the  limbs 
of  fome  of  them  were  w^orn  out.  The  mafs  of  this  mon- 
ument was,  in  other  refpefts,  in  excellent  prefervation, 
excepting  one  of  the  fquare  pillars  that  fupported  th^ 
arch,  which  a  vicar  in  the  neighbourhood  had  demolifli- 
ed,  to  repair  his  parfonage  houfe.  This  modern  ruin  fug- 
gefted  another  train  of  refleftion,  refpefting  the  exquifite 
ikill  of  the  Ancients,  in  the  conftruftion  of  their  public 
monuments ;  for  though  the  pillar  which  fupported  one 
of  the  arches,  on  one  fide,  had  been  demolifhed,  as  I  have 
mentioned,  neverthelefs,  that  part  of  the  arch  which  reft- 
tc\  upon  it,  hung  unfupported  in  the  air,  as  if  the  pieces 
of  the  vaulting  had  been  glued  to  each  other.  Another 
idea  likewife  flruck  me,  namely,  that  the  demoliOiing 
parfon  might,  perhaps,  have  been  a  defcendant  from  the 
ancient  Cimbri,  as  we  modern  French  trace  up  our  de- 
fcent  to  the  ancient  Nations  of  the  North,  which  invaded 
Italy.  Thus,  the  demolition  excepted,  ot  w^hich  I  by  no 
means  approve,  from  the  refpeft:  I  bear  to  antiquity,  I 
mafed  upon  the  viciiTitudes  of  all  human  affairs,  -whiclii 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  393 

put  the  viftors  in  the  place  of  the  vanquifhed,  and  the 
vanquifhed  in  that  of  the  viftors.  1  fettled  the  matter 
thus,  therefore,  in  my  own  mind,  that  as  Marias  had  a- 
venged  the  honour  of  the  Romans,  and  levelled  the  glory 
of  the  Cimbri,  one  of  the  defcendants  of  the  Cimbri  had, 
in  his  turn,  levelled  that  of  Manus ;  while  the  young 
people  of  the  vicinity,  who  might  come,  perhaps,  on  their 
days  of  feftivity,  to  dance  under  the  fhade  of  this  tri- 
umphal arch,  fpent  not  a  fingle  thought  about  either  the 
perfon  who  conftrufted,  or  the  perfon  who  demoliflied  it. 
The  ruins,  in  which  Nature  combats  with  human  Art, 
infpire  a  gentle  melancholy.  In  thefe  (he  difcovers  to  us 
the  vanity  of  our  labours,  and  the  perpetuity  of  her  own. 
As  Ihe  is  always  building  up,  even  when  {he  deftroys,  fhe 
calls  forth  from  the  clefts  of  our  monuments,  the  yellovsr 
gillyflower,  the  chsenopodium,  gralTes  of  various  forts, 
%vild  cherry  trees,  garlands  of  bramble,  flripes  of  mofs  and 
all  the  faxatile  plants,  which,  by  their  flowers  and  their 
attitudes,  form  the  moft  agreeable  ccntrafts  with  the 
rocks. 

I  ufed  to  flop  formerly,  with  a  high  degree  of  pleafure, 
in  the  garden  of  the  Luxembourg,  at  the  extremity  of  the 
alley  of  the  Carmelites,  to  contemplate  a  piece  of  archi- 
teaure  which  ftands  there,  and  had  been  originally  intend- 
ed to  form  a  fountain.  On  one  fide  of  the  pediment 
which  crowns  it,  is  ftretched  along  an  ancient  River  god, 
on  whofe  face  time  has  imprinted  wrinkles  inexpreflibly 
more  venerable  than  thofe  which  have  been  traced  by  the 
chifel  of  the  Sculptor  :  It  has  made  one  of  the  thighs  to 
drop  off,  and  has  planted  a  maple  tree  in  its  place.  Of 
the  Nai'ad  who  was  oppofite,  on  the  other  fide  of  the  pedi- 
ment, nought  remains  except  the  lower  part  of  the  body. 
The  head,  the  ftioulders,  the  arms,  have  all  difappeared. 
The  hands  are  ftill  fupporting  an  urn,  out  of  which  ifl'ue, 
inftead  of  fluviatic  plants,  fome  of  thofe  which  thrive  in 
the  driefl  fituations,  tufts  of  yellow  gillyflowers,  dandcli^ 
ons  and  long  flieaves  of  faxatile  grafl^es. 
VOL.    II.  B  b  b 


^H 


A  VINDICATION  OF 


A  fine  flyle  of  Archite6lure  always  produces  beautiful 
tuins.  The  plans  of  Art,  in  this  cafe,  form  an  alliance 
with  the  majcfty  of  thofe  of  Nature.  1  know  no  objeft 
which  prefents  a  more  impofmg  afpeft  than  the  antique 
and  well  conftrufted  towers,  which  our  Anceftors  reared 
on  the  fummit  of  mountains,  to  difcover  their  enemies 
from  afar,  and  out  of  the  coping  of  which  now  fhoot  out 
tall  trees,  with  their  tops  waving  majellically  in  the  wind. 
1  have  feen  others,  the  parapets  and  battlements  of  which, 
murderous  in  former  times,  were  embellifhed  with  the  li- 
lach  in  flower,  whofe  (hades,  of  a  bright  and  tender  violet 
hue,  formed  enchanting  oppofitions  with  the  cavernous 
and  embrowned  ftone  work  of  the  tower. 

The  intereft  of  a  ruin  is  greatly  heightened,  when  fome 
moral  fentiment  is  blended  with  it ;  for  example,  when 
thofe  degraded  towers  are  confidered  as  having  been  form- 
erly the  refidence  of  rapine.  Such  has  been,  in  the  Pais 
de  Caux,  an  ancient  fortification,  called  the  caftle  of  Lil- 
lebonne.  The  lofty  walls,  which  form  its  precinfl:,  are 
ruinous  at  the  angles,  and  fb  overgrown  with  ivy,  that 
there  are  very  few  fpots  where  the  layers  of  the  ftones  are 
perceptible.  From  the  middle  of  the  courts,  into  which  I 
believe  it  muft  have  been  no  eafy  matter  to  penetrate,  a- 
rife  lofty  tovx^ers  with  battlements,  out  of  the  fummit  of 
which  fpring  up  great  trees,  appearing  in  the  air  like  a 
head  drcfs  of  thick  and  bufhy  locks.  You  perceive  here 
and  there,  through  the  mantling  of  the  ivy  which  clothes 
the  fides  of  the  caftle,  Gothic  windows,  embrafures  and 
breaches  which  give  a  glimpfe  of  flair  cafes,  and  refemble 
the  entrance  into  a  cavern.  No  bird  is  feen  flying  around 
this  habitation  of  defolation,  except  the  buzzard  hovering 
over  it  in  filence ;  and  if  the  voice  of  any  of  the  feathered 
race  makes  itfelf  fometimes  heard  there,  it  is  that  of  fome 
A)litary  owl  which  has  retired  hither  to  build  her  neft. 
This  caflle  is  fituated  on  a  rifing  ground,  in  the  middle  of 
a  narrow  valley,  formed  by  mountains  crowned  with  for- 
elts.     When  I  recoiled:,  ^t  fight  of  this  manfion,  that  it 


DIVEINPROVIDEKCE.  .395 

was  formerly  the  refidence  of  petty  tyrants,  who,  before 
the  royal  authority  was  fufficiently  eftablifhed  over  the 
kingdom,  from  thence  exercifed  their  felf  created  right  of 
pillage,  over  their  miferable  vafTals,  and  even  over  inof- 
fenfive  paflengers  who  tell  into  their  hands,  I  imagine  to 
myfelf  that  I  am  contemplating  the  carcafe,  or  the  fkele« 
ton,  of  fome  huge,  ferocious  beaft  of  prey. 


The  P  leaf  lire  of  Tombs, 


But  there  are  no  monuments  more  interefting^tiian  tlie 
tombs  of  men,  and  efpecially  thofe  of  our  own  anceftors. 
It  is  remarkable,  that  every  Nation,  in  a  flate  of  Nature, 
and  even  the  greatell  part  of  thofe  which  are  civilized, 
have  made  the  tombs  of  their  forefathers,  the  centre  of 
their  devotions,  and  an  eflential  part  of  their  religion. 
From  thefe,  however,  muft  be  excepted  the  people  whofe 
fathers  rendered  themfelves  odious  to  their  children  by 
a  gloomy  and  fevere  education,  I  mean,  the  weflern  and 
fouthern  Nations  of  Europe.  This  religious  melancholy 
is  diffufed  every  where  elfe.  The  tombs  of  progenitors 
are,  all  over  China,  among  the  principal  embelliihments 
of  the  fuburbs  of  their  cities,  and  of  the  hills  in  the  coun- 
try. They  form  the  moft  powerful  bonds  of  patriotic  a(- 
feftion  among  favage  Nations.  When  the  Europeans 
have  fometimes  propofed  to  thefe  a  change  of  territory, 
this  was  their  reply  :  "  Shall  wc  fay  to  the  bones  of  our 
*'  Fathers,  arife,  and  accompany  us  to  a  foreign  land  ?" 
They  always  con fidered  this  objeftionas  infurmountable. 
Tombs  have  furniflied,  to  the  poetical  ta'cnts  of  Young 
.and  Gefner,  imagery  the  mofl  enchanting.  Our  voluptua- 
ries, who  fometimes  recur  to  the  fcntiments  of  Nature, 
have  faftitious  monuments  ercficd  in  their  gardens.  Thefe 
9re  not,  it  miifl  be  confefled,  the  tombs  of  their  parents. 


39b  A  VINDICATION  or 

But  whence  could  they  have  derived  this  fentiment  oi 
funeral  melancholy,  in  the  very  midft  of  pleafure  ?  Muft 
it  not  have  been  from  the  perfuafion  that  fomething  ftill 
fubfifts  after  we  are  gone  ?  Did  a  tomb  fuggeft  to  their 
imagination  only  the  idea  of  what  it  isdefigned  to  contain, 
that  is,  a  corpfe  merely,  the  fight  of  it  would  fhock  rather 
than  pleafe  them.  How  afraid  are  mofl  of  them  at  the 
thought  of  death  !  To  this  phyfical  idea,  then,  fome  moral 
fentiment  muft  undoubtedly  be  united.  The  voluptuous 
melancholy  refulting  from  it  arifes,  like  every  other  at- 
traftive  fenfation,  from  the  harmony  of  the  two  oppofite 
principles  ;  from  the  fentiment  of  our  fleeting  exiftence, 
and  of  that  of  our  immortality  ;  which  wnite  on  behold- 
ing the  laft  habitation  of  Mankind.  A  tomb  is  a  monu- 
ment erefted  on  the  confines  of  the  two  Worlds. 

It  firft  prefents  to  us  the  end  of  the  vain  difquietudes  of 
life,  and  the  image  of  everlafting  repofe  :  It  afterwards  a- 
wakens  in  us  the  confufed  fentiment  of  a  blefied  immor- 
tality, the  probabilities  of  which  grow  ftronger  and  ftrong- 
er,  in  proportion  as  the  perfon  whofe  memory  is  recalled 
was  a  virtuous  chara61er.  It  is  there  that  our  veneration 
fixes.  And  this  is  fo  unqueftionably  true,  that  though 
there  be  no  difference  between  the  duft  of  Nero  and  that 
ol  Socrates,  no  one  would  grant  a  place  in  his  grove  to 
the  remains  of  the  Roman  Emperor,  were  they  depofited 
even,  in  a  filver  urn  ;  whereas  every  one  would  exhibit 
thofe  of  the  Philofophcr  in  the  moft  honourable  place 
of  his  beft  apartment,  were  they  contained  in  only  a  vafe 
of  clay. 

It  is  from  this  intelle6lual  inftinft,  therefore,  in  favour 
of  virtue,  that  the  tombs  of  great  men  infpire  us  with  a 
veneration  fo  affefting.  From  the  fame  fentiment  too  it 
is,  that  thofe  which  contain  objefts  that  have  been  lovely 
excite  fo  much  pleafing  regret  ;  for,  as  we  fliall  make  ap- 
pear prefently,  the  attraftions  of  love  arife  entirely  out  of 
the  appearances  of  virtue.  Hence  it  is  that  we  are  moved 
at  the  fight  of  xhe  little  hillock  which  covers  the  aflies  qF- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  397 

an  amiable  infant,  from  the  recolle6lion  of  its  innocence  ; 
hence,   again,  it  is,  that  we  are  melted  into  tenderncfs  on 
contemplating  the  tomb  in  which  is  laid  torepofe  a  young 
female,  the  delight  and  the  hope  of  her  family,  by  reafon 
of  her  virtues.     In  order  to  render  fuch  monuments  inter- 
efting  and  refpeftable,  there  is  no  need  of  bronzes,  mar- 
bles and  gildings.     The  more   fimple  that  they  are,  the 
more  energy  they  communicate  to  the  fentiment  of  mel- 
ancholy.    They  produce  a  more  powerful  effeft,  when 
poor  rather  than  rich,  antique  rather  than  modern,  with 
details  of  misfortune  rather  than  with  titles  of  honour, 
with  the  attributes  of  virtue  rather  than  with  thofe  of 
power.     It  is  in  the  country,  principally,   that  their  im- 
preflion  makes  itfelf  felt  in  a  very  lively  manner.    A  fim- 
ple, unornamented  grave  there,  caufes  more  tears  to  flow 
than  the  gaudy  fplendor  of  a  cathedral  interment.*  There 
it  is  that  grief  alTumes  fublimity  ;  it  afcends  with  the  a. 
ged  yews   in  the  churchyard;    it  extends   with   the  fur- 
rounding  hills  and  plains ;  it  allies  itfelf  with  all   the  ef- 

*  Our  Artifts  fet  ftatues  of  marble  a  weeping  round  the  tombs  of  the 
Great.      It  is  very  proper  to  make  ftatucs  weep,  where  men  (bed  no  tears, 
1  have  been  many  a  time  prefent  at  the  funeral  obfequies  of  the  rich ;  hut 
rarely  have  1  feen  any  one  (bedding  a  tear  on  luch  occafions,  unlefsil:  were, 
now  and  then,  an  aged  domeftic,  who  was,  perhaps,  left  deRitute.     Some 
time  ago,  happening  to  pafs  throurh  a  little  frequented  ftreet  of  the  Faux- 
bourg  Saint   Marceau,   I    perceived  a    coffin  at  the  door  of  a  houfe  of  but 
mean  appearance.     Clofe  by  the  coffin  was  a  woman  on  her  knees,  in  cam- 
eft  prayer  to  God,  and  who  had  all  the  appearance  of  being  ablorbcd   in 
grief.     This  poor  woman  having  caught  with  her  eye,  at  the  farth:r  end  of 
the  ftreet,  the  pricfts  and   their  attendants  coming  to  cairy  off  the  body, 
got  upon  her  feet,  and  run  oif,  putting  her  hands  upon  her  eyes,  and  crying 
b'tterly.     The  neighbours  endeavoured  to  ftop  her,  and  to adminiftcr  fomc 
confolation  :  but  all  to  no  purpofe.     As  fnc  paffed  clofe  by  me,  I  took  the 
liberty  to  aftc  if  it  was  the  lofs  of  a  mother  or  of  a  daughter  that  (be  lamcnL- 
td  fo  piteoufly.     ♦'  Alas!  Sir,"  faid  (be  to  mc,  the  tears  guffiing  down  her 
cheeks,  "  I  am  mourning  the  Icfs  of  a  good  lady,  who  procured  me  the 
««  means  of  earning  my  poor  livelihood  ;   fbc  kept  mc  employed  from  day 
*•  to  day."    I  informed  myfclf  in  the  neighbourhood  refped..^  the  condi- 
tion of  this  beneficent  lady  :  She  was  the  wife  of  a  petty  joiner.     Ye  peo- 
ple of  wealth,  What  ufe  then  do  you  make  of  ricl-.cs,  d'n  ip-  your  lifetime, 
i^fin^  no  tears  at»  fived  over  your  ^rave  I 


3^5  A  VINDICATION  of 

f€6ls  of  Nature,  with  the  dawning  of  the  morning,  the 
murmuring  of  the  winds,  the  fetting  of  the  Sun,  and  the 
darknefs  of  the  night. 

Labour  the  moft  oppreflive,  and  humiliation  the  moft 
degrading,  are  incapable  of  extinguilhing  the  impreffion 
of  this  fentiment  in  the  breafls  of  even  the  moll  miserable 
of  Mankind.  "  During  the  fpacc  of  two  years,"  fays 
Pather  clu  Tertre,  '*  our  negro  Domini ck,  after  the  death 
*'  of  his  wife,  never  failed,  for  a  fingle  day,  as  foon  as  he 
*'  returned  from  the  place  of  his  employment,  to  take 
"  the  little  boy  and  girl  which  he  had  by  her,  and  to  con- 
"  du8;  them  to  the  grave  of  the  deceafed,  over  which  he 
**  fobbed  and  wept  before  them,  for  more  than  half  an 
*'  hour  together,  while  the  poor  children  frequently 
*'  caught  the  infeQion  of  his  forrow.*"  What  a  funeral 
oration  for  a  wife  and  a  mother !  This  man,  however,  was 
nothing  but  a  wretched  flave. 

There  farther  refults,  from  the  view  of  ruins,  another 
fentiment,  independent  of  all  refleftion  :  It  is  that  of  hero- 
ifm.  Great  Generals  have  oftener  than  once  employed 
their  fublime  effeft,  in  order  to  exalt  the  courage  of  their 
foldiers.  Alexander  perfuaded  his  army,  loaded  with 
the  fpoils  of  Perfia,  to  burn  their  baggage  ;  and  the  mo- 
ment that  the  fire  was  applied,  they  are  on  tiptoe  to  fol- 
low him  all  over  the  World.  Williajn,  Duke  of  Nor- 
mandy, as  loon  as  he  had  landed  his  troops  on  England, 
fet  fire  to  his  own  fhips,  and  the  conqueft  ot  the  king- 
dom was  effefted. 

But  there  are  no  ruins  which  excite  in  us  fentiments 
fo  fublime,  as  the  ruins  of  Nature  produce.  They  repre- 
fent  to  us  this  vaft  prifon  of  the  Earth,  in  which  we  are 
immured,  fubjeft  itfelf  to  deftruftion  ;  and  they  detach 
lis,  at  once,  from  our  paiTions  and  prejudices,  as  from  a 
momentary  and  frivolous,  theatrical  exhibition.  When 
Lilbon  was   deflroyed  by   an  earthquake,  its   inhabitants, 

•  HiHory  of  ihe  Amille*  :  Tr.  vlil.  chap,  i .  fcft.  4. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  399 

on  making  their  efcape  from  their  houfes,  embraced  each 
other ;  high  and  low,  friends  and  enemies,  Jews  and  In- 
quifitors,  known  and  unknown ;  every  one  fhared  his  cloth- 
ing and  provifions  with  thofe  who  had  faved  nothing.  I 
have  feen  fomething  fimilar  to  this  take  place  on  board  a 
fhip,  on  the  point  of  perifhing  in  a  florm.  The  firft  effe6l 
of  calamity,  fays  a  celebrated  Writer,  is  to  flrengthen  the 
foul,  and  the  fecond  is,  to  melt  it  down.  It  is  becaufe 
the  firft  emotion  in  Man,  under  the  preffure  of  calamity, 
is  to  rife  up  toward  the  Deity  ;  and  the  fecond,  to  fall 
back  into  phyfical  wants.  This  lafl  effeft  is  that  of  re- 
fleftion  ;  but  the  moral  and  fublime  fentiment,  almoft 
always  takes  pofleflion  of  the  heart,  at  fight  of  a  magnih- 
cent  deftruftion. 


Ruins  of  Nature, 


When  the  prediftions  of  the  approaching  diffolution  of 
the  World  fpread  over  Europe,  fome  ages  ago,  a  very 
great  number  of  perfons  divefted  themfelves  of  their  prop- 
erty ;  and  there  is  no  reafon  to  doubt,  that  the  very  fame 
thing  would  happen  at  this  day,  fhould  fimilar  opinions 
be  propagated  with  effeft.  But  fuch  fudden  and  total  ru- 
ins are  not  to  be  apprehended  in  the  infinitely  fage  plans 
of  Nature  :  Under  them  nothing  is  deflroyed,  but  what  is 
by  them  repaired. 

The  apparent  ruins  of  the  Globe,  fuch  as  the  rocks 
which  roughen  its  furface  in  fo  iirony  places,  have  their 
utility.  Rocks  have  the  appearance  of  ruins  in  our  eye$, 
only  becaufe  they  are  neither  fquare  nor  polifhed,  like  the 
{tones  of  our  monuments ;  but  their  anfraftuofitics  are 
neceffary  to  the  vegetables  and  animals  which  are  deflined 
to  find  in  them  nourifhment  and  fhelter.  It  is  only  for  be- 
ings vegetative  and  fenfitive,  that  Nature  has  created  the 
foflil  kingdom ;  and   as  foon  as   Man  has  raifed  ufelefs 


40O  A  VINDICATION  of 

mafles  out  of  it,  to  thefe  objefts,  on  the  furface  of  the 
Earth,  fhe  haftens  to  apply  her  chifel  to  them,  in  order  to 
employ  them  in  the  general  harmony. 

If  we  attend  to  the  origin  and  the  end  of  her  Works, 
thofe  of  the  moft  renowned  Nations  will  appear  perfeftly 
frivolous.  It  was  not  necefTary  that  mighty  Potentates 
fhouid  rear  fuch  enormous  mafTes  of  ftone,  in  order,  one 
day,  to  infpire  me  with  refpeft,  from  their  antiquity.  A 
little  flinty  pebble,  in  one  of  our  brooks,  is  more  ancient 
than  the  pyramids  of  Egypt.  A  multitude  of  cities  have 
been  deftroyed  fince  it  was  created.  If  I  feel  myfelf  dif- 
pofed  to  blend  fome  moral  fentiment  with  the  monuments 
of  Nature,  I  can  fay  to  myfelf,  on  feeing  a  rock  :  "  It  was 
"  on  this  place,  perhaps,  that  the  good  Fenelon  repofed, 
"  while  meditating  the  plan  of  his  divine  Telemachus ; 
"  perhaps  the  day  will  come,  when  there  fhall  be  engrav- 
ed on  it,  that  he  had  produced  a  revolution  in  Europe, 
"  by  inilru6ling  Kings,  that  their  glory  confided  in  ren- 
•'  dering  Mankind  happy  ;  and  that  the  happinefs  of  Man- 
*'  kind  depends  on  the  labours  of  agriculture  ;  Pofterity 
will  gaze  with  delight  on  the  very  ftone  on  which  my 
"  eyes  are  at  this  moment  fixed."  It  is  thus  that  I  em- 
brace, at  once  the  paft  and  the  future,  at  fight  of  an  infen- 
fible  rock,  and  which,  by  confecrating  it  to  virtue,  by  a 
fimple  infcription,  I  render  infinitely  more  venerable, 
than  by  decorating  it  with  the  five  orders  of  Architefture. 


Of  the  Pleafure  of  Solitude. 


Once  more,  it  is  melancholy  which  renders  folitude  fo 
attraftive.  Solitude  flatters  our  animal  inftinft,  by  invit- 
ing us  to  a  retreat  fo  much  more  tranquil,  as  the  agitations 
of  our  life  have  been  more  reftlefs  ;  and  it  extends  our 
divine  initin6>,   by  opening  to  us  perfpeQives,  in  which 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  401 

natural  and  moral  beauties  prefent  themfelves  with  all  the 
attraftion  of  fentiment.  From  the  efFe6l  of  thefe  contrafts, 
and  of  this  double  harmony,  it  comes  topafs,  that  there  is 
no  folitude  more  foothing  than  that  which  is  adjoining  to 
a  great  city  ;  and  no  popular  feftivity  more  agreeable  than 
that  which  is  enjoyed  in  the  bofom  of  a  folitude. 


OF  THE  SENTIMENT  OF  LOVE. 


Were  love  nothing  fuperior  to  a  phyfical  fenfation,  I 
would  wifh  for  nothing  more  than  to  leave  two  lovers  to 
reafon  and  to  aft,  conformably  to  the  phyfical  laws  of  the 
motion  of  the  blood,  of  the  filtration  of  the  chyle,  and  of 
the  other  humours  of  the  body,  were  it  my  objeft  to  give 
the  groflTeft  libertine  a  difguft  for  it.  Its  principal  aft  it- 
ielf  is  accompanied  with  the  fentiment  of  fliame,  in  the 
men  of  all  countries.  No  Nation  permits  publick  profli- 
tution  ;  and  though  enlightened  Navigators  may  have  ad- 
vanced, that  the  inhabitants  of  Taiti  conformed  to  this 
infamous  praftlce,  obfervers  more  attentive  have  fince  ad- 
duced proof,  that,  as  to  the  ifland  in  queftion,  it  was 
chargeable  only  on  young  women  in  the  loweft  rank  of  So- 
ciety, but  that  the  other  clafTes  there  preferved  the  fenfe  of 
modefty,  common  to  all  Mankind. 

I  am  incapable  of  difcovering,  in  Nature,  any  direft 
caufe  of  fhame.  If  it  be  alleged,  that  Man  is  afhamed  of 
the  venereal  aft,  becaufe  it  renders  him  fimilar  to  the  an- 
imal, the  reafon  will  be  found  infufficient ;  for  fleep, 
drinking,  and  eating,  bring  him  ftill  more  frequently  tO 
the  fimilitude  of  the  animal,  and  yet  no  fhame  attaches  to 
thefe.  There  is,  in  truth,  a  caufe  of  fhame  in  the  phyfic- 
al aft  :  But  whence  proceeds  that  which  occafions  the 
moral  fentiment  of  it  ?  Not  only  is  the  aft  carefully  kept 
out  of  fiorht,   but  even   the  recolleftion  of  it.     Woraai* 

VOL.    II.  C    C    C 


402  A  VINDICATION  of 

confiders  it  as  a  proof  of  her  weaknefs  :  She  oppofes  long 
refiftance  to  the  folicitations  of  Man.  How  comes  it 
that  Nature  has  planted  this  obftacle  in  her  heart,  which, 
in  many  cafes,  aftually  triumphs  over  the  moft  powerful 
of  propenfities,  and  the  moft  headftrong  of  pafTions  ? 

Independently  of  the  particular  caufes  of  fhame,  which 
are  unknown  to  me,  I  think  I  difcern  one  in  the  two 
powers  of  which  Man  is  conftituted.  The  fenfe  of  love 
being,  if  I  may  fo  exprefs  myfelf,  the  centre  toward 
which  all  the  phyfical  fenfations  converge,  as  thofe  of 
perfumes,  of  mufic,  of  agreeable  colours,  and  forms,  of 
the  touch,  of  delicate  temperatures  and  favours;  there  re- 
fults  from  thefe  a  very  powerful  oppofition  to  that  other 
iHtelleftual  power,  from  which  are  derived  the  fentiments 
of  divinity  and  imm.ortality.  Their  contraft  is  fo  much 
the  more  collifive,  that  the  a6l  of  the  firft  is  in  itfelf  ani- 
mal and  blind,  and  that  the  moral  fentiment,  which  ufual- 
iy  accompanies  love,  is  more  expanfive  and  more  fublime. 
The  lover,  accordingly,  in  order  to  render  his  miftrefs 
propitious,  never  fails  to  make  this  take  the  lead,  and  to 
employ  every  effort  to  amalgamate  it  with  the  other  fen- 
fation.  Thus,  fhamc  arifes,  in  my  opinion,  from  the  com- 
bat of  thefe  two  powers  ;  and  this  is  the  reafon  that  chil- 
dren naturally  have  it  not,  becaufe  the  fenfe  of  love  is 
not  yet  unfolded  in  them ;  that  young  perfons  have  a 
great  deal  of  it,  becaufe  thofe  two  powers  are  afting  in 
them  with  all  their  energy;  and  that  moft  old  people 
have  none  at  all,  becaufe  they  are  paft  the  fenfe  of  love, 
from  a  decay  of  Nature  in  them,  or  have  loft  its  moral 
fentiment,  from  the  corruption  of  Society  ;  or,  which  is 
a  common  cafe,  from  the  effeft  of  both  together,  by  the 
concurrence  of  thefe  two  caufes. 

As  Nature  has  aifigned  to  the  province  of  this  paffion, 
which  is»defigned  to  be  the  means  of  reperpetuating  hu- 
man life,  all  the  animal  fenfations,  flie  has  likewlfe  united 
in  it  all  the  fentim.ents  of  the  foul  \  fo  that  love  prefents 
to  two  lovers,  not  only  the  fentiments  which  blend  with 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  403 

our  wants,  and  with  the  Inflinft  of  our  mifery,  fuch  as 
thofe  of  proteftlon,  of  affiftance,  of  confidence,  of  fup- 
port,  of  repofe,  but  all  the  fublime  inftin6ls,  befides, 
which  elevate  Man  above  humanity.  In  this  fenfc  it  is 
that  Plato  defined  love  to  be,  an  interpofition  of  the 
Gods  in  behalf  of  young  people.* 

*  It  was  by  means  of  the  fublime  inflaence  of  this  paflion,  that  the  Thc- 
feans  formed  a  battalion  of  heroes,  called  the  facred  band  ;  they  all  fell  to- 
gether in  the  battle  of  Cheronea.  They  were  found  extended  on  the  ground, 
all  in  the  fame  ftraight  line,  transfixed  with  ghaftly  wounds  before,  and 
with  their  faces  turned  toward  the  enemy.  This  fpeftacle  drew  tears  from 
the  eyes  of  Philip  himfelf,  their  conqueror.  Lycurgus  had  likewife  employ- 
ed the  power  of  love  in  the  education  of  the  Spartans,  and  rendered  it  one 
of  the  great  props  of  his  republic.  But,  as  the  animal  countcrpoife  of  this 
celeftial  fentiment  was  no  longer  found  in  the  bslovcd  objeft,  it  fomctimcs 
threw  the  Greeks  into  certain  irregularities,  which  have  juftly  been  imput- 
ed to  them  as  matter  of  reproach.  Their  Legiflators  confidered  women  as 
the  instruments  merely  of  procreating  children  ;  they  did  not  perceive  that, 
by  favouring  love  between  men,  they  enfeebled  that  which  ought  to  unite 
the  fexes,  and  that  in  attempting  to  ftrengthen  their  political  bands,  they 
were  burfting  afunder  thofe  of  Nature. 

The  Republic  oi  Lycurgus  had,  befides,  other  natural  defefts;  I  mention 
only  one,  the  flivery  of  the  Helots.  Thefa  two  particulars,  however,  ex- 
cepted, I  confider  him  as  the  moft  fublime  genius  that  ever  exiiled  :  And 
even  as  to  thefe  he  ftands,  in  fome  meafure,  excufeable,  in  confideration  of 
the  obftacles  of  every  kind  which  he  had  to  encounter  in  the  eftablifbraent 
■of  his  Laws. 

There  are,  in  the  harmonies  of  the  different  ages  of  human  life,  relatior« 
fo  delightful,  of  the  weaknefs  of  children  to  the  vigour  of  their  parents  ;  of 
the  courage  and  the  love  between  young  perfons  of  the  two  fexes  to  the  vir- 
tue and  the  religion  of  unimpallioned  old  people,  that  I  am  aftonifhcd 
no  attempt  has  been  made  to  prefent  a  pitlure,  at  leaft,  of  a  human  fociety 
thus  in  concord  with  all  the  wants  of  life,  and  with  the  Laws  of  Nature. 
There  arc,  is  is  true,  fome  fketches  of  this  fort,  in  the  Telemachus^  among 
others,  in  the  manners  of  the  inhabitants  of  Boctica  ;  but  they  arc  indicated 
merely.  I  am  perfuaded  that  fuch  a  Society,  thus  cemented  in  all  its  parts, 
would  attain  the  higheft  degree  of  focial  felicity,  of  which  human  nature  is 
fufceptible  in  this  World,  and  would  be  able  to  bid  defiance  to  all  the 
ftorms  of  political  agitation.  So  far  from  being  expofcd  to  the  fear  of 
danger,  on  the  part  of  neighbouring  States,  it  might  make  an  eafy  conqucil 
of  them,  without  the  ufe  of  arms,  as  ancient  China  did,  fimply  by  the  fpec- 
tacle  of  its  felicity,  and  by  the  influence  of  its  virtues.  I  once  entertained 
jkdefign,  on  the  fuggeftion  of    /•  7-   ^'"'i7<"?v,  of  extcnd'ng  this  idea,  by 


404  A  VINDICATION  OF 

Whoever  would  wifh  to  be  acquainted  with  human  na- 
ture, has  only  to  fludy  that  of  love  ;  he  would  perceive 
fpringing  out  of  it,  all  the  fentiments  of  which  I  have 
fpoken,  and  a  multitude  of  others,  which  I  have  neither 
time  nor  talents  to  unfold.  We  fhall  remark,  firft,  that 
this  natural  affe^lion  difclofes,  in  every  being,  its  princi- 
pal charafter,  by  giving  it  all  the  advantage  of  a  complete 
extenfion.  Thus,  for  example,  it  is  in  the  feafon  when 
each  plant  reperpetuates  itfelf  by  its  flowers  and  its  fruit, 
that  it  acquires  all  its  perfeftion,  and  the  charafters  which 
invariably  determine  it.  It  is  in  the  feafon  of  loves  that 
the  birds  of  fong  redouble  their  melody,  and  that  thofe 
which  excel  in  the  beauty  of  their  colouring,  array  them- 
felves  in  their  fineft  plumage,  the  various  ftiades  of  which 
they  delight  to  difplay,  by  fwelling  their  throats,  by  round- 
ing their  tail  into  the  form  of  a  wheel,  or  by  extending 
their  wings  along  the  ground.  It  is  then  that  the  lufty 
bull  prefents  his  forehead,  and  threatens  with  the  horn ; 
that  the  nimble  courfer  frifks  along  the  plain  ;  that  the 
ferocious  animals  fill  the  forefts  with  the  dreadful  noife 
of  their  roaring,  and  that  the  tigrefs,  exhaling  the  odour 
of  carnage,  makes  the  folitudes  of  Africa  to  refound 
with  her  hideous  yells,  and  appears  clothed  with  every  hor- 
rid, attraftive  grace,  in  the  eyes  of  her  tremendous  lover. 

It  is,  likewife,  in  the  feafon  of  loving,  that  all  the  af- 
feftions,. natural  to  the  heart  of  Man,  unfold  themfelves. 
Then  it  is  that  innocence,  candour,  fincerity,  modefly, 
generofity,  heroifm,  holy  faith,  piety,  exprefs  themfelves, 
with  grace  ineffable,  in  the  attitude  and  features  of  two 
young  lovers.  Love  afTumes,  in  their  fouls,  all  the  char- 
afters  of  religion  and  virtue.  They  betake  themfelves  to 
flight,  far  from  the  tumultuous  affemblies  of  the  city,  from 
the  corruptive  paths  of  ambition,  in  quefl  of  fome  fequef- 

compofme;  the  Hiftory  of  a  Nation  of  Greece,  well  known  to  the  Poets,  be- 
caufe  it  lived  coaformabiy  to  Nature,  and,  for  that  very  reafon,  almoft  alto- 
gether unknown  to  our  political  Writers ;  but  time  permitted  mc  only  to 
trace  the  outline  gf  it,  or,  at  mc^,  to  ftnilh  the  firft  Book, 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  ^c^ 

tered  fpot,  where,  tipon  the  rural  altar,  they  may  be  at 
liberty  to  mingle  and  exchange  the  tender  vou's  of  ever- 
lafting  afFeftion.  The  fountains,  the  woods,  the  dawnino- 
Aurora^  the  conftellations  of  the  night,  receive  by  turns 
the  facred  depofit  of  the  oath  of  Love.  Loft,  at  times,  in 
a  religious  intoxication,  they  confider  each  other  as  beino-s 
of  a  fuperior  order.  The  miftrefs  is  a  goddefs,  the  lover 
becomes  an  idolater.  The  grafs  under  their  feet,  the  air 
which  they  breathe,  the  ihades,  under  which  they  rcpofe, 
all,  all  appear  confecrated  in  their  eyes,  from  filJing  the 
fame  atmofphere  with  them.  In  the  widely  extended  U- 
niverfe,  they  behold  no  other  felicity  but  that  of  living 
and  dying  together,  or,  rather,  they  have  loft  all  fight  of 
death.  Love  tranfports  them  into  ages  of  infinite  du- 
ration, and  death  feem»to  them  only  the  tranfition  to  eter- 
nal union. 

But  fhould  cruel  deftiny  feparate  them  from  each  other, 
neither  the  profpefts  of  fortune,  nor  the  friendihip  of  com- 
panions the  moft  endeared,  can  afford  confolation  under 
the  lofs.  They  had  reached  Heaven,  they  languilh  on  tha 
earth,  they  are  hurried,  in  their  defpair,  into  the  retire- 
ment of  the  cloifter,  to  employ  the  remaining  dregs  of  life, 
in  redemanding  of  God  the  felicity  of  which  they  enjoy- 
ed but  one  trar>fient  glimpfe.  Nay,  many  an  irkfome 
year  after  their  feparation,  when  the  cold  hand  of  age  has 
frozen  up  the  current  of  fenfe  ;  after  having  been  dif- 
trafted  by  a  thoufand  and  a  thoufand  anxieties  foreign  to 
the  heart,  which  fo  many  times  made  them  forget  that  they 
were  human,  the  bofom  ftill  palpitates  at  fight  of  the  tomb 
which  contains  the  objc6t  once  fo  tenderly  beloved.  They 
had  parted  with  it  in  the  World,  they  hope,  to  fee  it  again 
\n  Heaven.  Unfortunate  hcloij'a  !  \V'hat  fublimc  emotions 
were  kindled  in  thy  foul  by-  the  alhcs  of  thy  Abclard  ? 

Such  ceieftial  emotions  cannot  poffibly  be  the  effc61s 
of  a  mere  animal  aft.  Love  is  not  a  flight  convulfion,  as 
the  divine  Marcus  Aurelius  calls  it.  It  is  to  tlic  charms 
pf  virtue,  and  to  the  fcntimcnt  of  her  divine- attribute?, 


4o6  A  VINDICATION  of 

that  love  is  indebted  for  all  that  entliufiaftic  energy.  Vic^ 
itfelf,  in  order  to  pleafe,  is  under  the  neceflTity  of  borro\\rT 
ing  its  looks  and  its  language.  If  theatrical  female  per- 
formers captivate  fo  many  lovers,  the  fedu6lion  is  carried 
en  by  means  of  theillufions  of  innocence,  of  benevolence, 
and  of  magnanimity,  difplayed  in  the  charafters  of  the 
Iheplierdeffes,  of  the  heroines,  and  of  the  goddefTes,  which 
they  are  accuftomed  to  reprefent.  Their  boafted  graces 
are  only  the  appearances  of  the  virtues  which  they  coun- 
terfeit. If  fometimes,  on  the  contrary,  virtue  becomes 
difpleafmg,  it  is  becaufe  fhe  exhibits  herfelf  in  the  difguife 
of  harfhnefs,  caprice,  peevifhnefs,  or  forae  other  repulfive 
bad  quality. 

Thus,  beauty  is  the  offspring  of  virtue,  and  uglinefs 
that  of  vice  ;  and  thefe  charafters  frequently  imprefs 
themfelves  from  the  earliefl  infancy  by  means  of  educa- 
tion. It  will  be  objefted  to  me,  that  there  are  men  hand- 
fome,  yet  vicious,  and  others  homely,  yet  virtuous.  Soc- 
rates  and  Alcibiades  have  been  adduced  as  noted  inftances, 
in  ancient  times.  But  thefe  very  examples  confirm  my 
pofition.  Socrates  was  unhappy  and  vicious  at  the  time 
of  life  when  the  phyfiognomy  affumes  its  principal  char- 
acters, from  infancy  up  to  the  age  of  feventeen  years.  He 
wa's  born  in  a  poor  condition  ;  his  father  had  determined, 
notwithflanding  his  declared  reluftance,  to  breed  him  to 
the  art  of  fculpture.  Nothing  lefs  than  the  authority  of 
an  oracle  could  refcue  him  from  this  paternal  tyranny. 
Socrates  acknowledged,  in  conformity  to  the  decifion  of  a 
Phyfiognomift,  that  he  was  addifted  to  \vomen  and  wine, 
the  vices  into  which  men  are  ufually  thrown  by  the  pref- 
fure  of  calamity  :  At  length,  he  became  reformed,  and 
nothing  could  be  more  beautiful  than  this  Philofopher, 
when  he  difcourfed  about  the  Deity.  As  to  the  happy 
Alcibiades,  born  in  the  very  lap  of  fortune,  the  leffons  of 
Socrates,  and  the  love  of  his  parents  and  fellow  citizens, 
expanded  in  him,  at  once,  beauty  of  perfon  and  of  foul ; 
but  having  been,  at   lafl,   betrayed  into  irregular  courfe^ 


DIVEINPROVIDENCE.  4©/ 

through  the  influence  of  evil  communications,  nothing 
remained  but  the  bare  phyfiognomy  of  virtue.  Whatever 
feduftion  may  be  apparent  in  their  firfl  afpeft,  the  ugli- 
nefs  of  vice  foon  difcovers  itfelf  on  the  faces  of  handfome 
men  degraded  into  wickednefs.  You  can  perceive,  even 
under  their  fmiles,  a  certain  marked  trait  of  falfehood  and 
perfidy.  This  difTonance  is  communicated  even  to  the 
voice.  Every  thing  about  them  is  mafked,  like  their 
face. 

I  beg  leave,  farther,  to  obferve,  that  all  the  forms  of 
organized  beings  exprefs  intelleftual  fentiments,  not  on- 
ly to  the  eyes  of  Man,  who  ftudies  Nature,  but  to  thofe 
of  animals,  which  are  inftruQed,  at  once,  by  their  inftinft, 
in  fuch  particulars  of  knowledge,  as  are,  in  many  refpefts, 
fo  obfcure  to  us.  Thus,  for  example,  every  fpecies  of 
animal  has  certain  traits,  which  are  expreflive  of  its  char- 
after.  From  the  fparkling  and  refllefs  eyes  of  the  tiger, 
you  may  difcover  his  ferocity  and  perfidy.  The  gluttony 
of  the  hog  is  announced  by  the  vulgarity  of  his  attitude, 
and  the  inclination  of  his  head  toward  the  ground.  All 
animals  are  perfeftly  well  acquainted  with  thofe  charac- 
ters, for  the  Laws  of  Nature  are  univerfal.  For  inftance, 
though  there  be  in  the  eyes  of  a  man,  unlefs  he  is  very 
attentive,  an  exceedingly  flight  exterior  difference  between 
a  fox  and  a  fpecies  of  dog  which  refembles  him,  the  hen 
will  never  miftake  the  one  for  the  other.  She  will  take 
no  alarm  on  the  approach  of  the  dog,  but  will  be  feized 
with  horror  the  inftant  that  the  fox  appears. 

It  is,  ftill  farther,  to  be  remarked,  that  every  animal 
exprefles,  in  its  features,  fome  one  ruling  paflTion,  fuch  as 
cruelty,  fenfuality,  cunning,  ftupidity.  But  Man  alone, 
unlefs  he  has  been  debafed  by  the  vices  of  Society,  bears 
upon  his  countenance  the  imprefs  of  a  celcftial  origin. 
There  is  no  one  trait  of  beauty  but  what  may  be  referred 
to  fome  virtue  :  Such  an  one  belongs  to  innocence,  fuch 
another  to  candour,  thofe  to  generoflty,  to  modefly,  to  hc- 
roifm.     It  is   to  their  influence  that   Man  is  indebted   in 


4bh      .  A  VINDICATION  op 

every  country,  for  the  refpeft  and  confidence  with  whicli 
he  is  honoured  by  the  brute  creation,  unlefs  they  have 
been  forced  out  of  Nature  by  unrelenting  perfecution  on 
the  part  of  Man. 

Whatever  charms  may  appear  in  the  harmony  x)f  the 
colours  and  forms  of  the  human  figure,  there  is  no  vifible 
reafon  why  its  phyfical  effeft  fhould  exert  an  influence 
over  animals,  unlefs  the  imprefs  of  fome  moral  power 
were  combined  with  it.  The  plumpnefs  of  form,  or  the 
irefhnefs  of  colouring,  ought  rather  to  excite  the  appetite 
of  ferocious  animals,  than  their  refpeft  or  their  love.  Fi- 
nally, as  we  are  able  to  diflinguifh  their  impalTioned  char- 
acter, they,  in  like  manner,  can  diflinguifh  ours,  and  are 
capable  of  forming  a  very  accurate  judgment  as  to  our 
being  cruel  or  pacific.  The  game  birds,  which  fly  the 
fanguinary  fowler,  gather  confidently  around  the  harm- 
lefs  fhepherd. 

It  has  been  affirmed,   that  beauty  is  arbitrary  in  every 
Nation  ;  but  this  opinion   has  been  already  refuted  by  an 
appeal  to  matter  of  fa61.     The  mutilations  of  the  Negroes, 
their  incifions  into  the  fl<.in,  their  flattened  nofes,  their  com- 
prefTed  foreheads  ;  the  flat,  long,  round  and  pointed  heads 
of  the   favages  of  North  America;  the   perforated   lips  of 
the   Brafilians;   the   large  ears   of  the  people  of  Laos,  in 
Afia,  and  of  fome   Nations  of  Guiana,  are  the   efFefts  of 
fuperfli.tion,   or    of  a    faulty   education.      The   ferocious 
animals  themfelves   are  Rruck  at    fight  of  thefe  deform- 
ities.    All  travellers  unanimoufiy   concur   in    their    te[' 
timony,  that   when  lions    or   tigers  are  famiflied,   which 
rarely  happens,  and  thereby  reduced  to  the  necefTity  of  at- 
tacking caravans  in   the  night  time,   they  fall  firft  upon 
the  beafis  of  burden,   and  next  upon  the  Indians,  or  the 
black  people.     The  European  figure,  with  its  fimplicity, 
has  a  much  more  impofing  efifeft  upon  them,  than  when 
disfigured  by  African  or  Afiatic  charafters. 

When  it  has  not  been  degraded  by  the  vices  of  Socie- 
ty, its  exprefTion  is  fublimc.     A  Neapolitan,  of  the  name 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  40^ 

of  John  Baptijle  Porta,  took  it  into  his  head  to  trace  in  it 
relations  to  the  figures  of  the  bcafts.     To  this   effeft,   he 
has  compofed  a  book,  embellifhed  with  engravings,  repre- 
fenting  the  human  head  under  the  forced  refemblance  of 
the  head  of  a  dog,  of  a  horfe,  of  a  flieep,  of  a  hog  and  of 
an  ox.     His  fyftem  is  fomewhat  favourable  to  certain  mod- 
ern opinions,  and  forms  a  very  tolerable  alliance  with  the 
hideous  chancres  which  the  paflions  produce  in  the  human 
form.     But   1  Ihould  be  glad  to  know   after  what  animal 
Pi^alle  has  copied  that  charming  Mercury  which   I  have 
feen  at  Berlin  ;  and  after  the  pafTions  of  what  brutes  the 
Grecian  Sculptors  produced   the  Jupiter  of  the  Capitol, 
the  Venus  pudica,   and   the  Apollo   of  the   Vatican  ?  In 
what  animals  have  they  ftudied  thofe  divine  expreflions  ? 
I  am  thoroughly  perfuaded,  as  I  have  faid  already,  that 
there  is  not  a  fingle  beautiful  touch  in  a  figure,  but  what 
may  be  allied  to  fome  moral   fentiment,  relative  to  virtue 
and  to  Deity.     The  traits  of  uglinefs   might  be,   in  like 
manner,  referred  to   fome  vicious  afFe6Hon,  fuch  as  jeaU 
oufy,  avarice,  gluttony,  or  rage.     In  order  to  demonftrate 
to  our  Philofophers,  how  far   they  are  wide  of  the  mark, 
when  they   attempt  to  make  the  paflions  the  only  moving 
principles  of  human  life,   1  wilh  they  could  be  prefented 
with  the  exprefhon  of  all   the  pafTions,   collefted   in  one 
fmgle  head  ;  for  example,  the  wanton  and  obfcene  leer  of 
a  courtezan,  with  the  deceitful  and  haughty  air  of  an  am- 
bitious  courtier  ;   and  accompanied   with  an   infufion  of 
fome  touches  of  hatred  and  erivy,  which  are  negative  am- 
bitions.    A  head  which  fhould   unite  them   all  would  be 
more  horrid  than  that  of  Medufa  ;  'd  would  be  a  likenefs 
of  Nero. 

Every  pafTion  has  an  animal  charafter,  as  John  Baptijie 
Porta  excellently  obferved. .  But  every  virtue,  too,  has 
its  animal  chataaer  ;  and  never  is  a  phyfiognomy  more 
interefling  than  when  you  diflinguifli  in  it  a  celellial  af- 
feftion  conflifting  with  an  animal  pafTion.  Nay,  I  do  not 
know  whether  it  be  polTible  to  exprefs  a  virtue  otherwife 
VOL.    II.  D  d  d 


4 16  A  VINDICATION  o? 

than  by  a  triumph  of  this  kind.  Hence  it  is  that  moderfy*  ' 
appears  {o  lovely  on  the  face  of  a  young  fenaale,  becaufe 
it  is  the  confli6l  of  the  moft  powerful  of  animal  paffions 
with  a  fubiime  fentiment.  The  expreflipn  of  fenfibility, 
likewife,  renders  a  face  extremely  interefling,  becaufe  the 
foul,  in  this  cafe,  fliews  itfelf  in  a  Hate  of  fufFering,  and  be- 
caufe the  fight  of  this  excites  a  virtue  in  ourfelves,  name- 
Jy,  the  fentiment  of  compafFion.  If  the  fenfibility  of  the 
figure  in  queftion  is  aftive,  that  is,  if  it  fprings,  itfelf,  out 
of  the  contemplation  of  the  mifery  of  another,  it  ftrikes 
us  fliil  more,  becaufe  then  it  becomes  the  divine  expref- 
(ion  of  generofity. 

I  have  a  conviftion,  that  the  moft  celebrated  ftatues  and 
piftures  of  Antiquity  owe  much  ot  their  high  reputation 
entirely  to  the  expreflion  of  this  double  character,  that  is, 
to  the  harmony  arifing  out  of  the  two  oppofite  fentiments 
of  paflion  and  virtue.  This  much  is  certain,  that  the  moft 
juftly  boafted  mafterpieces,  in  fculpture  and  painting,  a- 
mong  the  Ancients,  all  prefented  this  kind  of  contraft. 
Of  this  abundance  of  examples  might  be  adduced  from 
their  ftatues,  as  the  Venus  pudica^  and  the  dying  Gladia- 
tor, who  preferves,  even  when  fallen,  refpeft  for  his  own 
glory,  at  the  moment  he  is  finking  into  the  arms  of  death. 
Such,  likewife,  was  that  of  Cupid  hurling  the  thunder  af- 
ter the  infant  Alcibiades^  which  Pliny  afcribes  to  PraxitC' 
les^  or  to  Scopas.  An  amiable  child,  launching  from  his 
little  hand  the  dread  thunderbolt  oi "  Jupiter ^  muft  excite, 
at  once,  the  fentiment  of  innocence,  and  that  of  terror. 
With  the  charafter  of  the  God  was  blended  that  of  a  man 
equally  attra£live  and  formidable. 

I  believe  that  the  paintings  of  the  Ancients  exprefTed, 
ft  ill  better,  thofe  harmonies  of  oppofite  fentiments.  Pliny, 
who  has  preferved  to  us  the  memory  of  the  moft  noted  of 
them,  quotes,  among  others,  a  pifture  by  Athenian  of  Ma- 
ronea,  which  reprefented  the  cautious  and  crafty  Vlyjfes 
detetling  Achilles  under  the  difguife  of  a  young  woman, 
by  prefenting  an  aflbrtment  of  female  trinkets,  among 


DIVINE   PROVIDENCE.  411 

^hich  he  had  carelcfsly,  and  without  appearance  of  art, 
introduced  a  fword.  The  lively  emotion  with  which  A~ 
ihilles.  lays  hold  of  that  fword,  mull  have  exhibited  a 
charming  contrail  with  the  habit,  and  the  compofed  de- 
portment of  his  nymph  charafter.  There  muft  have  re- 
fulted  another,  no  lefs  interefting,  in  the  charafter  df  Ulyf- 
Jts,  with  his  air  of  referve,  and  the  expreflion  of  his  fat- 
isfaftion,  under  the  reflraint  of  prudence,  fearful  left,  in 
difcovering  Achilles,  he  ftiould  at  the  fame  time  betray 
himfelf. 

Another  piece,  ftill  more  affefting,  from  the  pencil  of 
Arijlidas  of  Thebes,  reprefented  Biblis  languifhing  to 
ideath  of  the  love  which  fhe  bare  to  her  own  brother.  In 
it  there  muft  have  been  diftin6lly  reprefented  the  fenti- 
ment  of  virtue,  repelling  the  idea  ot  a  criminal  paflion, 
and  that  of  fraternal  friendfliip,  which  recalled  the  heart 
to  love,  under  the  very  appearances  of  virtue.  Thefe  cru- 
el confonances,  defpair  at  the  thought  of  being  betrayed 
by  her  own  heart,  the  defire  of  dying,  in  order  to  conceal 
her  fhame,  the  defire  of  life  to  enjoy  the  fight  of  the  be- 
loved obje6l,  health  wafting  away  under  the  prelfure  of 
conflifts  fo  painful,  muft  have  exprefl"ed,  amidft  the  lan- 
guors of  death  and  of  life,  contrafts  the  moft  interefting, 
on  the  countenance  of  that  ill  fated  maid. 

In  another  piclure,  of  the  fame  Arijiides,  was  reprefent- 
ed to  admiration,  a  mother  wounded  in  the  breaft,  during 
the  fiege  of  a  city,  giving  fuck  to  her  inlant.  She  feemed 
afraid,  fays  Plitiy,  left  it  fliould  draw  in  her  blood,  togeth- 
er with  her  milk.  Alexander  prized  it  fo  highly,  that  he 
had  it  conveyed  to  Pella,  the  place  of  his  birth.  What 
emotions  muft  have  been  excited,  in  contemplating  a  tri- 
umph fo  exalted  as  that  of  maternal  afFeftion  abforbing  a^l 
fenfe  of  perfonal  fufFering  !  PouJJin,  as  we  have  feen,  has 
borrowed  from  this  virtue,  the  principal  expreffion  oi  his 
piclure  of  the  Deluge. 

Rubens  has  employed  it,  in  a  moft  wonderful  manner, 
in  giving  expreftion  to  the  face  of  his  Mary  de  Medici s, 


412  A  VINDICATION  of 

in  which  you  diflinguifh,  at  once,  the  anguifh,  and  the  joy 
of  child  bearing.  He  farther  heightens  the  violence  of 
the  phyfical  paflion,  by  the  carelefs  attitude  into  which 
the  Queen  is  thrown,  in  an  eafy  chair,  and  by  her  naked 
foot,  which  has  fhaken  off  the  flipper  ;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  conveys  the  fublimity  of  the  moral  fentiment  awak- 
ened in  her,  by  the  high  defliny  of  her  infant,  who  is 
prefented  to  her  by  a  God,  repofed  in  a  cradle  of  bunches 
of  grapes  and  ears  of  corn,  fymbols  of  the  felicity  of  his 
reign. 

It  is  thus  that  the  great  Mafters,  not  fatisfied  with  op- 
pofing  mechanically  groups  of  figures  and  vacuity,  fhades 
and  lights,  children  and  old  men,  feet  and  hands,  purfue 
with  unremitting  care,  thofe  contrafts  of  our  internal  pow- 
ers which  exprefs  themfeives  on  "  the  human  face  di- 
*'  vine,"  in  touches  ineffable,  and  which  muft  conftitute' 
the  eternal  charm  of  their  produftions.  The  Works  of 
Le  Sueur  abound  in  thefe  contrafts  of  lentiment,  and  he 
places  them  in  fuch  perfeft  harmony  with  thofe  of  the  el- 
emenjtary  nature,  that  the  refult  from  them  is  the  fweeteft, 
and  the  moft  profound  melancholy.  But  it  has  been  much 
eafier  for  his  pencil  to  paint,  than  it  is  for  my  pen  to  de- 
scribe them. 

1  ffiall  adduce  but  one  example  more  to  my  prefent  pur- 
pofe,  taken  from  PouJJtn,  an  Artift  moft  admirable  for  his 
ikill  in  graphic  compofition,  but  whofe  colours  have  fuf- 
fered  confiderably  from  the  hand  of  time.  The  piece  to 
•which  I  refer  is  his  pifture  of  the  rape  of  the  Sabine  wom- 
en. While  "the  Roman  foldiery  are  carrying  off  by  force, 
in  their  arms,  the  terrified  young  women  of  the  Sabines, 
there  is  a  Roman  officer,  who  is  defirous  of  getting  pof- 
feffion  of  one  extremely  beautiful  as  well  as  young.  'She 
has  taken  refuge  in  the  arms  of  her  mother.  He  dares 
not  prefume  to  offer  violence  to  her,  but  feems  to  addrefs 
the  mother  with  all  the  ardour  of  love,  tempered  with 
refpeft  ;  his  countenance  thus  fpcaks  :  "  She  will  he 
"  happy  with  me  !  Let  me  be  indebted  for  her  to  love?/- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  413 

"  and  not  to  fear  !  I  am  lefs  eager  to  rob  )'Oii  of  a  daugh- 
*'  ter,  than  to  give  you  a  fon."  It  is  thus  that,  while  he 
conforms  himfelf,  in  drefling  his  charafters,  to  the  fimplic- 
ity  ot  the  age,  which  rendered  all  conditions  nearly  fimi- 
lar,  he  has  diftinguifiied  the  officer  from  the  foldier, 
not  by  his  garb,  but  by  hi^  manners.  He  has  caught,  as 
he  ufually  does,  the  moral  charatler  of  his  fubjc6l,  which 
produces  a  very  different  effeft  from  that  of  mere  cojiume. 

I  fliould  have  been  extremely  happy  had  we  been  fa- 
voured from  the  pencil  of  the  fame  ingenious  Artift,  with 
a  reprefentation  of  thefe  fame  female  Sabines,  after  they 
had  become  wives  and  mothers,  rufhing  in  between  the 
two  contending  armies  of  the  Sabines  and  Ronjans,  "  Run- 
*'  ning,"  as  Plutarch  tells  us,  "  fome  on  this  fide,  others 
*'  on  that,  in  tears,  ihrieking,  exclaiming  ;  thrufting  them- 
"  felves  through  the  clafliing  of  arms,  and  heaps  of  tlie 
"  dead  flrewed  along  the  ground,  like  perfons  trantic,  or 
*'  pofTeffed  with  a  fpirit,  carrying  their  fucking  infants  in 
*'  their  arms,  with  hair  diflievelled,  appealing  now  to  Ro- 
*'  mans,  now  to  Sabines,  by  every  tender  adjuration  that 
*'  can  reach  the  heart  of  Man.'"* 

The  moft  powerful  effefts  of  love,  as  has  been  faid,  a- 
rife  out  of  contradiftory  feelings,  melting  into  each  other, 
jufl  as  thofe  of  hatred,  frequently,  are  produced  trom  fim- 
ilar  fentiments  which  happen  to  clafh.  Hence  it  is 
that  no  feeling  can  be  more  agreeable  than  to  find  a  friend 
in  a  man  whom  we  confiderod  as  an  enemy  ;  and  no  mor- 
tification fo  poignant  as  meeting  an  enemy  in  the  man 
whom  we  depended  upon  as  a  friend.  Thefe  harmonic 
effe6~ts  frequently  render  a  flight  and  tranfient  kindnefs 
more  eflimiable  tlian  a  continued  feries  ot  good  offices  ; 
and  a  momentary  offence  more  outrageous  than  the  declar- 
ed enmity  of  a  whole  life  time  ;  becaufe,  in  the  firfl  cA\\ 
feelings  diametrically  oppofite  gracioufly  unite  ;  and,  in 
the  fccond,  congenial  feelings  violently  clafh.     Hence  too 

"•^  Plutarch's  Liic  oi.RcnuUs. 


^14  A  VINDICATION  of 

it  is,  that  a  fmgle  bleraiih,  amidft  the  vahiable  qualities 
of  a  man  of  worth,  frequeiuly  appears  more  offenfive  than 
all  the  vices  of  a  libertine,  who  difplays  only  a  folitary 
virtue,  becaufe,  from  the  efFe6l  of  contrail,  jthefe  two  qual- 
ities become  more  prominent,  and  eclipfe  the  others  in  the 
two  oppofite  chara6lers.  it  proceeds,  likewife,  from  the" 
weaknefs  of  the  human  mind,  which,  attaching  itfelf  al- 
ways to  a  fingle  point  of  the  objeft  which  it  contemplates, 
fixes  on  the  moft  prominent  quality,  in  framing  its  decif- 
ions.  It  is  impolTible  to  enumerate  the  errors  into  which 
we  are  every  day  falling,  for  want  of  lludying  thefe  ele- 
mentary principles  of  Nature.  It  would  be  poffible,  un. 
doubtedly,  to  extend  them  much  farther  ;  it  is  fufficient 
for  my  purpofe,  if  I  have  given  a  demonftration  of  their 
exiftence,  and  infpired  others  with  an  inclination  to  apply 
them  properly. 

,  Thefe  harmonies  acquire  greater  energy  from  the  ad- 
joining contrails  which  detach  them,  from  the  confonan- 
ces  which  repeat  them,  and  from  the  other  elementary  Laws 
which  have  been  indicated  ;  but  if  with  thefe  are  blend- 
ed fome  one  of  the  moral  fentiments  of  which  I  have  been 
prefenting  a  faint  iketch  in  this  cafe,  the  effe6l  refulting 
irom  the  whole  is  inexprelTibly  delightful.  Thus,  for  ex- 
ample, a  harmony  becomes,  in  fome  fort,  ceieftial,  when  it 
contains  a  my  fiery,  which  always  fuppofes  fomething  mar- 
vellous .and  divine.  I  one  day  felt  a  mofl  agreeable  effeft, 
as  I  was  looking  over  a  ccHeftion  of  old  prints,  which 
yeprefented  the  hiflory  of  Adorns,  Venus  had  llolen  the 
infant  Adonis  from  Diana,  and  was  educating  him  with 
her  fon  Cupid.  Diana  ^vas  c' ...crmined  to  recover  him,  as 
being  the  fon  of  one  of  her  ny  nphs,  Venus,  then,  having, 
on  a  certain  day,  alighted  fr^-.n  her  chariot,  drawn  by 
doves,  was  walking  with  the  two  boys  in  a  valley  of  Cyth- 
cra.  Diana,  at  the  head  of  her  armed  retinue,  places  her- 
feli  in  ambulh,  in  a  forell  through  which  Venus  was  to 
pafs.  Venus,  as  loon  as  ihe  perceived  her  adverfary  ap- 
proaching, and  incapable  either  to  eicape,   or  to  prevent 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  41^ 

the  recapture  of  Adorns,  was  inftantly  ftruck  with  the 
thought  of  clapping  wings  on  his  fhoulders,  and  prefent- 
ing  Cupid  and  him  together  to  Diana,  defired  her  to  take 
either  of  the  children. which  Ihe  believed  to,  be  her  prop- 
erty. Both  being  equally  beautiful,  both  of  the  fame  age, 
and  both  furnifhed  with  wings,  the  chalte  Goddefs  of  the 
woods  was  deterred  from  choofmg  either  the  one  or 
the  other,  and  refrained  from  taking  Adonis,  for  fear  of 
taking  Cupid. 

This  fable  contains  feveral  fentimental  beauties.  I  re- 
lated it  one  day  to  J.  J.  Roujfeau,  who  was  highly  de- 
lighted with  it.  *'  Nothing  pleafes  me  fo  much,"  faid  he, 
*'  as  an  agreeable  image,  which  conveys  a  moral  fenti- 
*'  ment  !"  We  were  at  that  time  in  the  plain  of  Neuilly, 
near  a  park,  in  which  we  faw  a  group  of  Love  and 
Friendfhip,  under  the  forms  of  a^  young  man  and  young 
woman,  of  fifteen  or  fixteen  years  of  age,  embracing  each 
other  with  mouth  to  mouth.  Having  looked  at  it,  he  faid 
to  me,  "  Here  is  an  obfcene  image  prefented,  after  a 
*'  charming  idea.  Nothing  could  have  been  more  agree- 
*'  able,  than  a  reprefentr^.tion  of  the  two  figures  in  their 
*'  natural  flate  :  Friendfhip,  as  a  grown  young  woman 
"  carefling  an  infant  Cupid.''  Being  on  that  interefting 
fubjeft,  I  repeated  to  him  the  conclufion  of  that  touching 
fable  of  Philomela  and  Progne. 

Le  dt^fert  eft-il  fait  pcur  des  talcns  fi  beaux  ? 
Venez  faireaux  cites  eclater  leurs  merveilles  : 

Auffi  bien,  en  voyant  Ics  bois, 
Sans  cefle  il  vous  fouvient  que  Tcree  autrefois, 

Parmi  des  dcmeures  parcilles, 
Exeica  fafureur  fur  vos  divins  appas. — 
Et  c'cft  le  fouvenir  d'un  fi  cruel  outrage, 
Qui  fait,  reprit  fafccur,  que  je  ne  vous  fuis  pas  : 

En  voyant  les  hommcs,  hclas  ! 

II  m'en  fouvient  bien  d'avantage. 

Why  wafte  fuch  fweetnefs  on  the  defcrt  air! 

Come,  charm  the  city  with  thy  tuneful  note. 
Think,  too,  in  folltude,  that  form  fo  fair 

Felt  violation ;  flee  the  horrid  thought. 


4i6  A  VINDICATION  of 


Ah  !  filler  dear,  fad  Philomel  replies, 

'Tis  this  that  makes  me  fhun  the  haunts  of  men  : 

Te:  ens  and  Courts  the  anguifh'd  heart  allies, 
And  haftes,  for  fhclter,  to  the  woods  again. 

**  What  a  feries  of  ideas!"  cried  he,  "how  tenderly 
*'  afFefting  it  is  !"  His  voice  was  flifled,  and  the  tears 
rufhcd  to  his  eyes.  1  perceived  that  he  was  farther  mov- 
ed by  the  fecret  correfpondencies  between  the  talents  and 
tl^e  dcfliny  of  that  bird,  and  his  own  fituation. 

It  is  obvious,  then,  in  the  two  allegorical  fubjeQs  of 
Diana  and  Adonis^  and  of  Love  and  Friendship,  that 
there  are  really  within  us,  two  diftinft  powers,  the  har- 
monies of  which  exalt  the  foul,  when  the  phyfical  image 
throws  us  into  a  moral  fentiment  as  in  the  firft  example  ; 
and  abafe  it,  on  the  contrary,  when  a  moral  fentiment  rc- 
cals  us  to  a  phyfical  fenfation,  as  in  the  example  of  Love 
and  Friendship. 

The  fupprelTed  circumlfances  contribute  farther  to  tlie 
moral  expreflions,  becaufe  they  are  conformable  to  the 
expanfive  nature  oi  the  foul.  They  cenduft  it  over 
avail  field  of  ideas.  It  is  to  thefe  fuppreflions  that  the 
iable  of  the  Nightingale  is  indebted  for  the  powerful  ef- 
feft  which  it  produces.  Add  to  thefe  a  multitude  of  oth- 
er oppofitions,  which  I  have  not  leifurc  to  analyze. 

The  farther  that  the  phyfical  image  is  removed  from  us, 
the  greater  extenfion  is  given  to  the  moral  fentiment;  and 
the  more  circumfcribed  the  firfl  is,  the  more  energetic 
the  fentiment  is  rendered.  It  is  this,  undoubtedly,  which 
communicates  fo  much  force  to  our  afFe6fions,  when  we 
regret  the  death  of  a  friend.  Grief,  in  this  cafe,  conveys  the 
foul  fr6m  one  World  to  the  other,  and  from  an  objcft  full  of 
charms  to  a  tomb.  Hence  it  is,  that  the  following  paf- 
fage  from  Jeremiah  contains  a  flrain  of  fublime  melan- 
choly :  Vox  in  Rama  audita  ejl ;  ploratus  &  utulatus 
viultus  :  Rachel  plorans  Jtlios  fuos^  ^  noliiit  confolari^ 
quia  7ion  JunL     *'  A  voice  was  heard   in  Ramah,   lamen- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  4,7 

^'  tation  and  bitter  weeping  ;  Rachael  weeping  for  her 
'*  children,  refufed  to  be  comforted  for  her  children,  bc- 
*'  caufe  they  were  not."*  All  the  confolations  which  this 
World  can  adminifter,  are  dafhed  to  pieces  againfl  this 
word  of  maternal  anguifh,  nonjiint. 

The  fingle  jet  d'eau  of  Saint  Cloud  pleafes  me  more 
than  all  its  cafcades..  However,  though  the  phyfical  im- 
age fhould  not  efcape,  and  lofe  itfelf  in  infinity,  it  may 
convey  forrow  thither,  when  it  reflefts  the  fame  fcntiment. 
I  find,  in  Plutarch,  a  noble  effeft  of  this  progreflive  con- 
fonance.  "  Brutus,''  fays  he,  *'  giving  all  up  for  loft, 
*'  and  having  refolved  to  withdraw  frorri  Italy,  palfcd  by 
"  land  through  Lucania  and  came  to  Elea,  which  is  fitu- 
**  ated  on  the  fea  fide.  Portia  being  to  return  from  thence 
*'  to  Rome,  endeavoured  to  conceal  the  grief  which  op- 
"  prefled  her,  in  the  profpeft  of  their  approaching  fepar- 
*'  ation  ;  but,  with  all  her  refolution  and  magnanimity, 
*'  flie  betrayed  the  forrow  which  was  preying  on  her  heart, 
•*  on  feeing  a  pifture  which  there  accidentally  caught  her 
"  eye.  The  fubjeft  of  the  piece  was  taken  from  the  Iliad, 
*'  and  reprefented  the  parting  of  hcBor  and  Andromache^ 
*'  when  he  was  preparing  to  take  the  field,  and  at  the  in- 
"  ftant  when  he  was  delivering  the  infant  AJlyanax  into 
**  the  arms  of  his  mother,  while  her  eyes  remain  immove- 
"  ably  fixed  on  He&or,  The  refemblance  which  the 
"  pitlure  bore  to  her  own  diftrefs  made  her  burft  into 
"  tears  ;  and  feveral  times  a  day  fhe  reforted  to  the  place 
*'  where  it  hung,  to  gaze  at  it,  and  to  weep  before  it, 
*'  This  being  obferved  by  Acilius,  one  of  the  friends  of 
**  Brutus,  he  repeated  the  paffage  from  Homer,  in  which 
*'  Andromache  expreflcs  her  inward  emotion  : 

¥.x.rcop  drocp  av  [aoi  'sicl  Tta-rrip  xat  'norvix  y.-niftp, 

*  Jeremiah,  chap.  xxxi.  ver.  15. 
VOL.    II.  Ogg 


i8  A  VINDICATION  of 


Yet  while  my  HcBor  ftill  furvivcs,  I  fee 
My  father,  mother,  kindred,  all  in  thee, 
My  wedded  Lord 

*'  Brutus  replied,  with  a  fmile,  But  I  mujl  not  anfwer 
•'  Portia  in  the  words  of  HeBor  to  Andromache: 

ATOC  SIS'  oiKQV  \aaa^  ra,  axvrriS  spycx.  xo/u-t^s, 
Ifov  r  Tj'kQOLx.rriv  re,  xa»   afx'^'i'ncXoKyi  yJXsvs. 

haflen  to  thy  tafks  at  home, 

There  guide  the  fpindle,  and  direft  the  loom. 

"  For  though  the  natural  weaknefs  of  her  body  prevents 
*'  her  from  aBing  what  the  firength  of  men  only  can  per- 
*'  form,  yetfhe  has  a  mind  as  valiant,  and  as  adivefor  the 
"  good  of  her  Country  as  we  have.'' 

This  pifture  was,  undoubtedly,  placed  under  the  perif- 
tyle  of  fome  temple,  built  on  the  fliore  of  the  Sea.  Brutus 
was  on  the  point  of  embarking  without  pomp,  and  with- 
out a  retinue.  His  wife,  the  daughter  of  Cato,  had  ac- 
companied him,  perhaps  on  foot.  The  moment  of  fepara- 
tion  approaches  ;  in  order  to  foothe  her  anguifh,  Ihe  fixes 
her  eyes  on  that  painting,  confecrated  to  the  Gods.  She 
beholds  in  it  the  laft,  long  farewel  of  Heflor  and  Andro?n- 
ache;  fhe  is  overwhelmed;  and  to  reanimate  her  forti- 
tude, turns  her  eyes  upon  her  hufband.  The  comparifon 
is  completed,  her  courage  forfakes  her,  tears  gulh  out, 
conjugal  affeftion  triumphs  over  love  of  Country.  Two 
virtues  in  oppofition  !  Add  to  thefe  the  charafters  of  a 
wild  nature,  which  blend  fo  well  with  human  grief:  Pro- 
found folitudc,  the  columns  and  the  cupola  of  that  antique 
temple,  corroded  by  the  keen  air  of  the  Sea,  and  marbled 
over  with  molTes,  which  give  them  the  appearance  of 
green  bronze  ;  a  fetting  Sun,  which  gilds  the  fummit  of 
it ;  the  hollow  murmurs  of  the  Sea,  at  a  di (lance,  breaking 


DIVINE   PROVIDENCE.  419 

along  the  coafl  of  Liicania  ;  the  towers  of  Elea  percepti- 
ble, in  the  bofom  of  a  valley,  between  two  fteep  moun- 
tains, and  that  forrow  of  Portia,  which  hurries  us  back  to 
the  age  of  Andromache.  What  a  pifture,  fuggcfted  by  the 
contemplation  of  a  pifture  !  O,  ye  Artifts,  couW  you  but 
produce  it,  Portia  would,  in  her  turn,  call  forth  many  a 
tear. 

I  could  multiply,  without  end,  proofs  of  the  two  pow- 
ers by  w^hich  we  are  governed.  Enough  has  been  faid  on 
the  fubjeft  of  a  pafTion,  the  inllinft  of  which  is  fo  blind, 
to  evince  that  we  are  attrafted  to  it,  and  aftuated  by  it, 
from  Laws  widely  diflPerent  from  thofe  of  digcftion.  Our 
affeftions  demonftrate  the  immortality  ot  the  foul,  bccaufe 
they  expand  in  all  the  circumftances,  in  which  they  feel 
the  attributes  of  Deity,  fuch  as  that  of  infinity,  and  never 
dwell  with  delight  on  the  Earth,  except  on  the  attraftions 
©f  virtue  and  innocence. 


©F  SOME  OTHER  SENTIMENTS  OF  DEITY,   AND  A 
MONO  OTHERS,  OF  THAT  OF  VIRTUE. 


There  are,  befides  thefe,  a  great  number  of  fentimental 
Laws,  which  it  has  not  been  in  my  power,  at  prefcnt,  to 
unfold  :  Such  are  thofe  which  fuggeft  prefentiments,  o- 
mens,  dreams,  the  reference  of  events,  fortunate  and  un- 
fortunate, to.  the  fame  epochs  and  the  like.  Their  effefts 
are  attefted  among  Nations,  polifhcd  and  favage,  by  Writ- 
ers profane  and  facred,  and  by  every  man  who  pays  atten- 
tion to  the  Laws  of  Nature.  Thefe  communications  of 
the  foul,  with  an  order  of  things  invifible,  arc  rejefted  by 
the  learned  of  modern  times,  becaufe  they  come  not  with- 
in the  province  of  their  fyftems  and  of  their  almanacks ; 
tut  how  many  things  cxift,  which  are  not  reducible  to  the 


42©  A  VINDICATION  OF 

plans  of  our  reafcn,  and  which  have  not  been  fo  much  as 
perceived  by  it ! 

There  are  particular  laws  which  demonftrate  the  im- 
mediate aftion  of  Providence  on  the  Human  Race,  and 
which  are  oppofite  to  the  general  Laws  of  Phyfics.  For 
example,  the  principles  of  reafon,  of  paffion  and  of  fenti- 
ment,  as  well  as  the  organs  of  fpeech  and  of  hearing,  are 
the  fame  in  men  of  all  countries ;  neverthelefs,  the  lan- 
guage of  Nations  differs  all  the  world  over.  How  comes 
it  that  the  art  of  fpeech  is  fo  various  among  beings  who  all 
have  the  fame  wants,  and  that  it  fhould  be  conflantly 
changing  in  the  tranfmifTion  from  father  to  fon,  to  fuch  a 
degree,  that  we  modern  French  no  longer  underftand  the 
language  of  the  Gauls,  and  that  the  day  is  com.ing,  when 
our  pofterity  will  be  unable  to  comprehend  ours  ?  The 
ox  of  Bengal  bellows  like  that  of  the  Ukraine,  and  the 
nightingale  pours  out  the  fame  melodious  ftrains  to  this 
day,  in  our  climates,  as  thofe  which  charmed  the  ear  of 
the  Bard  of  Mantua,  by  the  banks  of  the  Po. 

It  is  impoflible  to  maintain,  though  it  has  been  alleged 
by  certain  Writers  of  high  reputation,  that  languages  are 
charafterized  by  climates  ;  for,  if  they  w^ere  fubjefted  to 
influence  of  this  kind,  they  would  never  vary  in  any  coun- 
try, in  which  the  climate  is  invariable.  The  language  of 
the  Romans  was  at  firft  barbarous,  afterwards  majeilic, 
and  is  become,  at  laft,  foft  and  effeminate.  They  are  not 
rough  to  the  North,  and  foft  to  the  South,  as  J.  J.  Rouf- 
J'tau  pretends,  who,  in  treating  this  point,  has  given  far 
too  great  extenfion  to  phyfical  Laws.  The  language  of 
the  Ruflias,  in  the  North  of  Europe,  is  very  foft,  being  a 
dialeft  of  the  Greek  ;  and  the  jargon  of  the  fouthern 
provinces  of  France  is  harfh  and  coarfe.  The  Laplanders, 
who  inhabit  the  fhores  of  the  Frozen  Ocean,  fpeak  a  lan- 
guage that  is  very  grateful  to  the  ear;  and  the  Hotten- 
tots, who  inhabit  the  very  temperate  climate  of  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  cluck  like  India  cocks.  The  language  of 
the  Indians  of  Peru  is  loaded  with  ilrong  afpirations  and. 


DIVINE   PROVIDENCE.  ^^^ 

eonfonants  of  difficult  pronunciation.  Any  one,  wjihout 
going  out  of  his  clofet,  may  diftinguifh  the  different  char- 
afters  of  the  language  of  each  Nation,  by  the  names  pre- 
fented  on  the  geographical  charts  of  the  Country,  and  mav 
fatisfy  himfelf  that  their  harfhnefs,  or  foftnefs,  has  no 
relation  whatever  to  thofe  of  Latitude. 

Other  obfervers  have  afTerted,  that  the  languages  of 
Nations  have  been  determined  and  fixed  by  their  great 
Writers.  But  the  great  Writers  of  the  age  of  Au^ujlus 
did  not  fecure  the  Latin  language  from  corruption,  prc- 
vioufly  to  the  reign  of  Marcus  Aurtlius.  Thofe  of  the 
age  of  Louis  XIV,  already  begin  to  be  antiquated  amona 
ourfelves.  If  pofterity  fixes  the  chara6ler  of  a  language 
to  the  age  which  was  produftive  of  great  Writers,  it  is 
not  becaufe,  as  they  allege,  it  is  then  at  its  greateft  puri- 
ty ;  for  you  find  in  them  as  many  of  thofe  inverfions  of 
phrafeology,  of  thofe  decompofuions  ot  words,  and  of 
thofe  embarraffed  fyntaxes,  which  render  the  mciaphyfi- 
cal  ftudy  of  all  Grammar  tirefome  and  barbarous ;  but  it 
is  becaufe  the  Writings  of  thofe  great  men  fparkle  with 
maxims  of  virtue,  and  prefent  us  with  a  thoufand  perfpcc- 
tives  of  the  Deity.  1  have  no  doubt  that  the  fuhlime 
fentiments  which  infpire  them,  illuminate  them  dill  in 
the  order  and  difpofition  of  their  Works,  feeing  they  are 
the  fources  of  all  harmony.  From  this,  if  1  am  not  mif- 
taken,  refults  the  unalterable  charm  which  renders  the  pe- 
rufal  of  them  fo  delicious,  at  all  times,  and  to  the  men  of 
all  Nations.  Hence  it  is  that  Plutarch  has  eclipfed  moft 
of  the  Writers  of  Greece,  though  he  was  of  the  age  nei- 
ther of  PericUs,  nor  of  Alexander  ;  and  that  the  tranfla. 
tion  of  his  Works  into  old  French,  by  the  good  Amyot^ 
will  be  more  generally  read  by  pollerity  than  moft  ot  the 
original  Works  produced  even  in  the  age  of  Louis  XIV. 
It  is  the  moral  goodnefs  of  a  period  which  charafterizes  a 
language,  and  which  tranfmits  it  unaltered  to  the  genera- 
tion following.  This  is  the  reafon  that  the  languages,  the 
cuftoms  and  even  the  form  of  drelTcs  arc,  in  ACa,  tranf- 


422  A  VINDICATION  OF 

mitted  inviolably  from  generation  to  generation,  becaufe 
fathers,  all  over  that  Continent,  make  themfelves  beloved 
by  their  children.  But  thefe  reafons  do  not  explain  the 
diverfity  of  language  which  fubfifts  between  one  Nation 
and  another.  It  mufl  ever  appear  to  me  altogether  fuper- 
natural,  that  men  who  enjoy  the  fame  elements,  and  are 
fubjefted  to  the  fame  wants,  fhould  not  employ  the  fame 
words  in  exprefling  them.  There  .is  but  one  Sun  to  illu- 
minate the  whole  Earth,  and  he  bears  a  different  name  in 
every  different  land. 

1  beg  leave  to  fuggeft  a  farther  effeft  of  a  Law  to  which 
iittle  attention  has  been  paid  ;  it  is  this,  that  there  never 
arifes  any  one  man  eminently  diflinguiflied,  in  whatever 
line,  but  there  appears,  at  the  fame  time,  either  in  his  own 
Country,  or  in  fome  neighbouring  Nation,  an  antagonifl, 
polfefrmg  talents,  and  a  reputation,  in  complete  oppofition : 
Such  were  Democritus  and  Herachtus,  Alexander  and 
Diogenes^  Defcartes  and  Newton,  Corneille  and  Racine^ 
Bojfuet  and  Fenelon,  Voltaire  and  J,  Jf.  Ronjfeau.  I  had 
collefted,  on  the  fubjeft  of  the  two  extraordinary  men  lafl 
mentioned,  who  were  contemporaries,  and  who  died  the 
fame  year,  a  great  number  of  ftri^ures,  which  demon- 
ff  rate  that,  through  the  whole  courfe  of  life,  they  prefented 
a  ftriking  contrail  in  refpe6l  of  talents,  of  manners,  and 
of  fortune  :  But  I  have  relinquiflied  this  parallel,  in  order 
to  devote  my  attention  to  a  purfuit  which  I  deemed  much 
more  ufeful. 

This  balancing  of  illuftrious  charafters  will  not  appear 
extraordinary,  if  we  confider  that  it  is  a  confequence  from 
the  general  Law  of  contraries,  which  governs  the  World, 
and  from  which  all  the  harmonies  of  Nature  refult :  It  mufl, 
therefore,  particularly  manifell  itfelf  in  the  Human  Race, 
which  is  the  centre  of  the  whole  ;  and  it  aftually  does 
difcovcr  itfelf,  in  the  wonderful  equilibrium,  conformably 
to  which  the  two  fcxes  are  born  in  equal  numbers.  It 
does  not  hx  on  individuals,  in  particular,  for  we  fee  fam- 
ilies confillinrr  wholly  of  daughters,  and  others  all  fons; 


DIVINE   PROVIDENCE.  423 

but  it  embraces  the  aggregate  of  a  whole  city,  and  of  a 
Nation,  the  male  and  female  children  of  which  are  always 
produced  very  nearly  equal  in  number.  Whatever  ine- 
quality of  fex  there  may  exift  in  the  variety  ot  births  in 
families,  the  equality  is  conflantly  reftored  in  the  aggre- 
gate of  a  people. 

But  there  is  another  equilibrium  rw  lefs  wonderful, 
which  has  not,  I  believe,  become  an  objeft  of  attention. 
As  there  are  a  great  many  men  who  perifh  in  War,  in  fea 
voyages,  and  by  painful  and  dangerous  employments,  it 
would  thence  follow,  that,  at  the  long  run,  the  number  cf 
vv^omen  would  daily  go  on  in  an  increafmg  proportion. 
On  the  fuppofition,  that  there  perilhes  annually  one  tenth 
part  more  of  men  than  of  women,  the  balancing  of  the 
fexes  muft  become  more  and  more  unequal.  Social  ruin 
muft  increafe  from  the  very  regularity  of  the  natural  or^ 
der.  This,  however,  does  not  take  place  ;  the  two  fexes 
are  always,  very  nearly,  equally  numerous  :  Their  occu- 
pations are  different  ;  but  their  deftiny  is  the  fame.  The 
women,  who  frequently  impel  men  to  engage  in  hazard- 
ous enterprizes  to  fupport  their  luxury,  or  who  foment 
animofities,  and  even  kindle  wars  among  them,  to  gratify 
their  vanity,  are  carried  off,  in  the  fecurity  ofplcafure 
and  indulgence,  by  maladies  to  which  men  are  not  fub- 
je6l  ;  but  which  frequently  refult  from  the  moral,  phyfi- 
cal  and  political  pains  which  the  men  undergo  in  confe- 
quence  of  them.  Thus  the  equilibrium  of  birtli  between 
the  fexes,  is  reeftablifned  by  the  equilibrium  of  death. 

Nature  has  multiplied  thofe  harmonic  contrafts  in  all 
her  Works,"  relatively  to  Man  ;  for  the  fruits  which  min- 
ifter  to  our  neceffities,  frequently  poffefs,  in  themfelves, 
oppofite  qualities,  which  ferve  as  a  mutual  compenfation. 

Thefe  effefts,  as  has  been  elfewhere  demonftrated,  are 
not  the  mechanical  refults  of  climate,  to  the  qualities  of 
which  they  are  frequently  in  oppofition.  All  the  Works 
of  Nature  have  the  wants  of  Man  for  their  end ;  as  all 
the  fentiments   of  Man  have   Deity  for  their  principle 


424  A  VINDICATION  o? 

The  final  intentions  of  Nature  have  given  to  Man  the 
knowledge  of  all  her  Works,  as  it  is  the  inftinft  of  Deity 
which  has  rendered  Man  fuperior  to  the  Laws  of  Nature. 
It  is  this  inftinft  which,  differently  modified  by  the  paf- 
fions,  engages  the  inhabitants  of  RufTia  to  bathe  in  the 
ices  of  the  Neva,  during  the  fevereft  cold  of  Winter,  as 
well  as  the  Nations  of  Bengal  in  the  waters  of  the  Gan- 
ges ;  which,  under  the  fame  Latitudes,  has  rendered  wo- 
men flaves  in  the  Philippine  Iflands,  and  defpots  in  the 
Ifland  of  Formofa;  which  makes  men  effeminate  in  the 
Aloluccas,  and  intrepid  in  MacafTar;  and  which  forms, 
in  the  inhabitants  of  one  and  the  lame  city,  tyrants,  citi- 
zens and  flaves. 

The  fentiment  of  Deity  is  the  firfl  mover  of  the  human 
heart.  Examine  a  man  in  thofe  unforefeen  moments, 
when  the  fecret  plans  of  attack  and  defence,  with  which 
focial  man  continually  enclofes  himfelf,  are  fupprefTed, 
not  on  the  fight  of  a  vafl  ruin,  which  totally  fub verts 
them,  but  fimply  on  feeing  an  extraordinary  plant  or  ani- 
mal :  "  Ah,  my  God  !"  exclaims  he,  "  how  wonderful 
"  this  is !"  and  he  invites  the  firft  perfon  who  happens  to 
pafs  by,  to  partake  of  his  aftonifhment.  His  firff  emo- 
tion is  a  tranfport  of  delight  which  raifes  him  to  God; 
and  the  fecond,  a  benevolent  difpofition  to  communicate 
his  difcovery  to  men  ;  but  the  focial  reafon  quickly  recals 
him  to  perfonal  intercff.  As  foon  as  he  fees  a  certain 
number  of  fpe61:ators  aiTembled  round  the  obje61:  of  his  cu- 
riofity,  *'  It  was  I,"  fays  he,  *'  who  obferved  it  firfl." 
Then,  if  he  happens  to  be  a  Scholar,  he  fails  not  to  ap- 
ply his  fyftem  to  it.  By  and  by  he  begins  to  calculate  how- 
much  this  difcovery  will  bring  him  in;  he  throws  in  fome 
additional  clrcumflances,  in  order  to  heighten  the  appear- 
ance of  the  marvellous,  and  he  employs  the  whole  credit 
of  his  junto  to  puff  it  off,  and  to  perfecute  every  one  who 
prefumes  to  differ  from  him  in  opinion.  Thus,  every 
natural  fentiment  elevates  us  to  God,  till  the  weight  of 
our  pafTions,  and  of  human  inftitutions,  brings  us  back  a- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  425 

gain  to  felf.  J.  J.  Roiijfeau  was,  accordingly,  in  the 
right,  when  he  faid  that  Man  was  good,  but  that  men  were 
wicked. 

It  was  the  inftin6l  of  Deity  which  firft  affembled  men 
together,  and  which  became  the  bafis  of  the  Religion  and 
of  the  Laws  whereby  therir  union  was  to  be  cemented.  On 
this  it  was  that   virtue   found  a  fupport,  in  propofmg  to 
herfelf  the  imitation  of  the  Divinity,  not  only  by  the  ex- 
ercife  of  the  Arts  and  Sciences,  which  the  ancient  Greeks, 
for  this  efFeft,  denominated  the  petty  virtues  ;  but  in  the  re- 
fult  of  the  divine  power  and  intelligence,  which  is  benef- 
icence.    It  cbnfifted  in  efforts   made  upon   ourfelves,  for 
the  good  of  Mankind j  in  the  view  of  pleafing  God  only. 
It  gave  to  Man  the  fentiment  of  his  own  excellence,  by  in- 
fpiring  him  with  the  contempt  of  terreflrial  and  tranfient 
enjoyments,  and  with  a  defire  after  things   celeflial  and 
immortal.     It  was  this  fublime  attraftion  which  exiSted 
courage  to  the  rank  of  a  virtue,  and  which  made  Man  ad- 
vance intrepidly  to  meet  death,  amidft  fo  many  anxieties 
to  preferve  life.  Gallant  i'  AJfas^  What  had  you  to  hope 
for  on  the  Earth,  when  you  poured  out  your  blood  in  the 
night,  without  a  witnefs,  in  the  plains  of  Klofterkam,  for 
the  falvation  of  the   French  army  ?  Aod  you,  generous 
Eujiace  de  St.   Pierre,  what  recompenfe  did  you  expe6l 
from  your  Country,  when  you  appeared  before  her  tyrants, 
with  the  halter  about  your  neck,   ready  to  meet  an  infa-: 
mous  death,   in  laving  your  fellow   citizens  ?   Of  what  a- 
vail,  to  your  infenfible  afhes,  were  the  ftatues  and  the  elo- 
giums  which  pofterity  was  one  day  to  confecrate  to  your 
memory  ?  Could  you   fo  much  as  hope  for  this  reward, 
in  return  for  facrifices  either  unknown,  or  loaded  with 
dpprobrioufnefs  ?   Could  you  be  flattered,  in  ages  to  come, 
with  the  empty  homage  of  a  world  feparated  from  you  by 
eternal  barriers  ?  And  you,  more  glorious  flill  in  the  fight 
of  God,  obfcure  citizens,  who  fink  inglorioufly  into  the 
grave ;  you,  whofe  virtues  draw  down  upon  your  heads 
fhame,  calumnV,  perfecution,  paverty,  contempt,  even  o» 
VOL.  II.  F  f  f 


4^6  A  VINDICATION  of 

the  part  of  thofe  who  difpenfe  the  honours  of  a  prefent 
ftate,  could  you  have  forced  your  way  through  paths  h 
dreary  and  fo  rude,  had  not  a  light  from  Heaven  illumu 
naPed  your  eyes  ?* 

*  It  is  impoflible  for  virtue  to  fubfift  independently  of  Rtligion.  I  do 
rot  mean  the  theatrical  virtues,  which  attraft  publick  admiration,  and  that, 
many  a  time,  by  means  fo  contemptible,  that  they  may  be  rather  confider- 
ed  as  fo  many  vice«.  The  very  Pagans  have  turned  them  into  ridicule. 
See  what  Marcus  Aurefius  has  faid  on  the  fubjeft.  By  virtue  I  underftand 
t^e  good  which  we  do  to  men,  without  expeftation  of  reward  on  their 
part,  and,  frequency,  at  the  expenfe  of  fortune,  nay,  even  of  reputation. 
Analyze  all  thofe  whofe  traits  have  appeared  to  you  the  moft  ftriking  j 
there  is  no  one  of  them  but  what  points  out  Deity,  nearer  or  more  remote, 
I  fhall  quote  one  not  generally  known,  and  fmgularly  interefting  from  its 
very  obfcurily. 

In  the  laft  war  in  Germany,  a  Captain  of  cavalry  was  ordered  out  on  a 
foraging  party.  He  put  himfelf  at  the  head  of  his  troop,  and  marched  to 
the  quarter  affigned  him.  It  was  a  folitary  valley,  in  which  hardly  any 
thiri'g  but  woods  could  be  fecn.  In  the  midft  of  it  flood  a  little  cottage; 
on  perceiving  it,  he  went  up,  and  knocked  at  the  door ;  out  comes  an  an- 
cient Hcrnouten,  with  a  beard  filvered  by  age.     "  Father,"  fays  the  officer, 

**  {hew  me  afieid  where  I   can  fet  my  troopers  a  foraging." ««  Pref- 

*'cntly,"  replied  the  HcJnouten.  The  good  old  man  walked  before,  and 
conduced  them  out  of  the  valley.  After  a  quarter  of  an  hour's  march, 
they  found  a  fine  field  of  barley  :     •<  There  is  the  very   thing  we  want," 

/ays  the   Captain **   Have   patience  for  a  few  minutes,"  replies  hi» 

guide,  *'  you  fiiall  be  fatisfied."  They  went  on,  and,  at  the  diflance 
of  about  a  quarter  of  a  league  farther,  they  arrived  at  another  field  of  bar- 
Icy.  The  troop,  immediately  difmounted,  cut  down  the  giain,  truffed  it 
up,  and  remounted.  The  officer,  upon  this,  fays  to  his  conduftor,  "  Fath- 
er, you  have  given  yourfelf  and  us  unnecefTary  trouble;   th;  firft  field  wax 

much  better  than  this" «*  Very  true,  Sir,"  replied  the  good  old  man, 

*«  but  it  was  not  mine." 

This  ftroke  goes  direftly  to  the  heart.  I  defy  an  athelft  to  produce  me 
any  thing  once  to  be  compared  with  it.  It  may  be  proper  to  obferve^ 
that  the  Hernoutens  are  a  fpecies  of  Quakers, fcattered  over  fome  cantons  of 
Germany.  Certain  Theologians  have  maintained,  that  heretics  were  inca- 
pable of  virtue,  and  that  their  good  aftions  were  utterly  deftitute  of  merit. 
As  I  am  no  Theologian,  I  fliall  not  engage  in  this  metaphyfical  difcuffion, 
though  I  might  oppofe  to  their  opinion  the  fentiments  of  St.  Jerome^  and 
even  thofe  of  St.  Peter,  with  refpcdlto  Pagans,  when  he  fays  to  Cornelius  the 
centurion.  "Of  a  truth,  I  perceive  that  God  is  no  refpefter  of  perfons ;  but 
«*  in  every  Nation,  he  that  fcar?th  Him,  and  woikcth  ri^hteoufnefs.  is  ac- 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  427 

This  T€fpe£l  for  virtue,  is  the  fource  of  that  which  we 
pay  to  ancient  Nobility,  and  which  has  introduced,  in 
procefs  of  time,  unjuft  and  odious  di^erences  among  men, 

**  cepted  with  Him."*  But  I  fnould  be  glad  to  krrow  what  thofe  Theolo- 
gians think  of  the  charity  of  the  good  Samaritan,  who  was  a  fchifmatic. 
"Surely  they  will  not  venture  to  ftart  objeftions  againft  a  decifion  pronounc- 
ed by  Jesus  Christ  himfelf.  As  the  fimplicity  and  depth  of  his  divine 
lefponfes,  form  an  admirable  contraft  with  the  difhoncfty  and  fubtilty  of 
modern  doftors,  I  Ihall  tranfcribe  the  whole  paflbge  from  the  Gofpel,  word 
for  word. 

*'  And  behold,  a  certain  lawyer  flood  up,  and  tempted  him,  faying, 
*•  Mafter,  What  fhall  I  do  to  inherit  eternal  life? 

**  He  faid  unto  him,  What  is  written  in  the  law  ?  HowTcadeft  thou  ? 
'*  And  he,  anfwering,  faid,  Thou  (halt  love  the  Lorj)  thy  God  with  all 
*»  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  foul,  and  with  all  thy  flrength,  and  with   all 
♦«  thy  mind  ;  and  thy  neighbour  as  tlryfelf. 

*♦  And  he  faid  unto  him,  Thou  haft  anfwered  right :  This4oand  thou 
«'  fhalt  live. 

'•  But  he,  willing  to  juftify  himfelf,  faid  unto  Jisus,  And,  Who  is  my 
-**  neighbour  ? 

*'  And  JESus  anfwering,  faid,  A  certain  man  went  down  from  Jerufa- 
<»  lem  to  Jericho,  and  fell  among  thieves,  wiiich  ftripped  him  of  his  rai- 
'*  ment,  and  wounded  him^  and  departed,   leaving  him  half  dead. 

**  And  by  chance  there  came  down  a  certain  prieft  chat  way  4  and  when 
^*  he  faw  him,  he  paffed  by  on  the  other  fide. 

*'  And  likewife  a  Levite,  when  he  was  at  the  place  came  and  looked  on 
«*  Am,  and  pafled  by  on  the  other  fide, 

*'  But  a  certain  Samaritan,  as  he  journeyed,  came  whene  he  was;  and  when 
«*  he  faw  him,  he  had  compaflion  on  him. 

«*  And  went  to  him,  and  bound  up  his  wounds,  pourFng  in  oil  arid  wine, 
**  and  fct  him  on  his  own  beaft,  and  brought  him  to  an  inn,  and  lodk  care 
•*  of  him. 

«»  And  on  the  morrow,  when  he  departed,  he  took  out  two  pence,  and 
**  gave  thevi  to  the  hoft,  and  faid  unto  him,  TaJce  care  of  him  ;  and  whatfo- 
*»  ever  thoufpendeft  more,  when  I  come  again,  I  will  repay  thee. 

t'  Which  now  of  thefe  three,  thinkcft  thou  was  neighbour  unto  him  that 
**  fell  among  the  thieves  ? 

♦♦  And  he  faid,  He  that  fhewed  mercy  on  him.  Then  faid  Jesus  unt© 
«*  him,  Go,  and  do  thou  likewife."  + 

I  fhall  be  carefully  on  my  guard  againft  adding  any  reflexions  of  ray 
^wn  on  this  fubject,  except  this  fimple  obiervation,  that  the  adion  pf  th-? 

*   A€ls  of  the  Apoflles,  chap,  x.  ver.  34,  35. 

f  Luke,  chap.  x.  ver,  25  — 3 7^ 


428  A  VINDICATION  of 

whereas,  originally,  it  was  defigned  to  eftablifh  among 
them,  refpeftable  diflinftions  alone.  Th5  Afiatics,  more 
equitable,  attached  nobility  only  to  places  rendered  il, 
luftrious  by  virtue.  An  aged  tree,  a  well,  a  rock,  objefts 
of  liability,  appeared  to  them  as  alone  adapted  to  perpetu- 
ate the  memory  of  what  was  worthy  of  being  re^nembered. 
There  is  not,  all  over  Afia,  an  acre  of  land,  but  what  is 
dignified  by  a  monument.  The  Greeks  and  Romans  who 
ifTued  out  of  it,  as  did  all  the  other  Nations  of  the  World, 
and  who  did  not  remove  far  from  it,  imitated,  in  part,  the 
cuftoms  of  our  firft  Fathers.  But  the  other  Nations  which 
fcattered  therafelves  over  the  reft  of  Europe,  where  they 
were  long  in  an  erratic  ftate,  and  who  withdrew  from 
thofe  ancient  monuments  of  virtue,  chofe  rather  to  look 
for  them  in  the  pofterity  of  their  great  m§n,  and  to  fee 
the  living  images  of  them  in  their  children.  This  is  the 
reafon,  in  my  opinion,  that  the  Afiatics  have  no  Nobleffe, 
and  the  Europeans  no  monuments. 

This  inftinft  of  Deity  conftitutes  the  charm  of  the  per- 
formances which  we  perufe  with  mo  ft  delight.  The 
Writers  to  whom  we  always  return  with  pleafure,  are  not 
the  moft  fprightly,  that  is,  thofe  who  abound  the  moft  in 
the  facial  reafon  which  endures  but  for  a  moment,  but 
thofe  who  render   the  aQion   of  Providence  continually 

Samaritan  is  far  fuperior  to  that  of  the  Hcmouten  ;  for,  though  the  fecond 
makes  a  great  facrifice,  he  is  in  fome  f6rt  determined  to  it  by  force  :  A 
field  mud  of  neceflity  have  been  fubjcftcd  to  forage.  But  the  Samaritan  en- 
tirely obeys  the  impulle  of  humanity.  His  a£lion  is  free,  and  his  charity 
fpontarneous.  This  ftrifture,  like  all  thofe  of  the  Gofpel,  contains,  in  a  kw 
■words,  a  multitude  of  clear  and  forcible  inflruftions,  refpefting  the  duties 
incuicated  in  the  fecond  tabic  of  the  Law.  It  would  be  impoflible  to  re- 
place them  by  others,  were  imagination  itfelf  permitted  to  diftate  them. 
Weigh  all  the  circumftances  of  the  reliefs  and  perfevering  charity  of  the  Sa- 
maritan. He  dreflcs  the  wounds  of  an  unfortunate  wretch,  and  places  him 
on  his  own  horfe  j  he  expofcs  his  own  life  to  danger,  by  flopping,  and 
walkiiig  on  foot,  in  a  place  frequented  by  thieves.  He  afterwards  makes 
provifion,  in  the  inn,  for  the  future,  as  well  as  for  the  prefent,  necelfities 
of  the  unhappy  man,  and  continues  his  journey,  without  expefting  any  rcc- 
smpeufc  w.hatcvcr  from  the  gratitude  of  the  petfon  whom  he  bad  fuccoured. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE, 


429 


piFcfent  to  us.  Hence  it  is  that  Homer,  Virgil,  Xenophon^ 
Plutarch^  Fenelon,  and  molt  of  the  ancient  Writers,  are 
immortal,  and  pleafe  the  men  of  all  Nations.  For  the 
fame  reafon  it  is,  that  books  of  travels,  though,  for  the 
moft  part,  written  very  artlefsly,  and  though  decried  by 
multitudes  of  various  orders  in  Society,  who  difcern  in 
them  an  indire6f  cenfure  of  their  own  conduft,  are,  never- 
thelefs,  the  moft  interefting  part  of  modern  reading ;  not 
only  becaufe  they  difclofe  to  us  fome  new  benefits  of  Na- 
ture, in  the  fruits  and  the  animals  of  foreign  countries,  but 
becaufe  of  the  dangers  by  land  an4  by  water  which  their 
authors  have  efcaped,  frequently  beyond  all  reafonable  ex- 
peftation.  Finally,  it  is  becaufe  the  greatell  part  of  our 
very  learned  produftions  ftudioufly  fteer  clear  of  this 
natural  fentiment,  that  the  perufal  of  them  is  fo  very  dry 
and  difgufting,  and  that  pofterity  will  prefer  Herodotus 
to  David  Hume^  and  the  Mythology  of  the  Greeks  to  all 
our  treatifes  on  Phyfics ;  becaufe  \^e  Jove  ftill  more  to 
liear-die  liftions  of  Deity  blended  wiiji  the  Hiftory  of 
men,  than  to  fee  the  reafon  of  men  in  the  Hiftory  of  De- 

This  fublime  fentiment  infpires  Man  with  a  tafte  for 
the  marvellous,  who,  from  his  natural  weaknefs,  miWl 
have  ever  been  crawling  on  the  ground,  of  whiclji  he  is 
formed.  It  balances  in  him  the  fentiment  of  his  mifery, 
which  attaches  him  to  the  pleafures  of  habit;  and  it  exalts 
his  foul,  by  infyfmg  into  him  continually  the  defire  of 
novelty.  It  is  the  harmony  of  human  life,  and  the  foyrce 
of  every  thing  delicious  and  enchanti9g  that  we  meet  with 
in  the  progrefs  of  it.  With  this  it  is  that  the  illufions  of 
love  ever  veil  themfelves,  ever  reprefenting  the  beloved 
pbjeft  as  fometbing  divine.  It  is  this  which  opens  to 
ambition  perfpecliv^s  without  end.  A  peafant  appears 
defirous  of  nothing  in  the  V/orid,  but  to  become  the 
church  warden  of  his  village.  3e  not  deceived  in  the 
man!  open  to  him  a  career  without  any  impediment  in 
his  way  ;  he  is  groom,  he  becomes  highwaym^,  captain 


^3o  A  VINDICATION  of 

of  the  gang,  a  commander  in  chief  of  armies,  a  king,  aad 
never  refts  till  he  is  worfhipped  as  a  God.  He  fhali  be  a 
Tamerlane  ox  a  Mahomet. 

An  old  rich  tradefman,  nailed  to  his  eafy  chair  by  the 
ffout,  tells  us,  that  he  has  no  higher  ambition  than  to  die 
in  peace.     But  he   fees  himfelf  eternally  renovating   in 
his  pofterity.     Ke  enjoys   a  fecret  delight  in  beholding 
them  mount,   by  the  dint  of  his  money,  along  all  the  af- 
cending  fleps  of  dignity  and  honour.     He  himfelf  reflefts 
HOt  that  the  moment  approaches  when  he  fhall  have  noth- 
ing in   common  with  that  pofterity,  and  that  while  he  is 
congratulating  himfelf  on  being  the  fource  of  their  future 
glory,  they  are  already  employing  the  upftart  glory  which 
they  have  acquired,  in  drawing  a  veil  over  the  meannefs 
of  their  original.     The  atheift  himfelf,  with  his  negative 
wifdom,  is  carried  along  by  the   fame  impulfe.     To  no 
purpofe  does  he  demonflrate  to  himfelf  the  nothingnefs, 
and  the  fluftuation  of  sU  things  :  His  reafon  is  at  variance 
■with  his  heart.     He   flatters   himfelf  inwardly  with  the 
hope,  that  his  book,  or  his  monument,  will  one  day  attraft 
the  homage  ©f  pofterity  ;  or,  perhaps,  that  the  book,  or 
the  tomb,  of  his  adverfary  will  ceafe  to  be  honoured. 
He  miftakes  the  Deity,  merely  becaufe  he  puts' himfelf 
in  his  palce. 

With  the  fentiment  of  Deity,  every  thing  is  great,  noble, 
beautiful,  invincible,  in  the  moft  contrafted  fphere  of  hu- 
man life  ;  without  it,  all  is  feeble,  difpleafing,  and  bitter, 
in  the  very  lap  of  greatnefs.  T*his  it  was  which  confer- 
red empire  on  Rome  and  Sparta,  by  (hewing  to  their  poor 
and  virtuous  inhabitants  the  Gods  as  their  proteftors  and 
fellow  citizens.  It  was  the  deftruftion  of  this  fentiment 
which  gave  them  up,  when  rich  and  vicious,  to  flavery ; 
when  they  no  longer  faw,  in  the  Uniyerfe,  any  other  Gods 
except  gold  and  pleafure.  To  no  purpofe  does  a  man  make 
a  bulwark  around  himfelf  of  the  gifts  of  fortune  ;  the  mo- 
mcnt  this  fentiment  is  excluded  from  his  heart,  languor 
takes  poireflion  of  it.     If  its  abfeuce  is  prolonged,  he  finks 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  431 

into  fadnefs,  afterwards  into  profound  and  fettled  melan- 
choly, and  finally  into  defpair.  If  this  ftate  of  anxiety 
becomes  permanent,  he  lays  violent  hands  on  fiimfelf. 
Man  is  the  only  fenfible  being  which  deHroys  itfelf  in  a 
ftate  of  liberty.  Human  life,  with  all  its  pomp,  »nd  all 
its  delight,  ceafes,  to  him,  to  have  the  appearance  of  life, 
when  it  ceafes  to  appear  to  him  immortal  and  divine.* 

Whatever  be  the  diforders  of  Society,  this  celeftial  in-r 
ftinft  is  ever  amufmg  itfelf  with  the  children  of  men.  It 
infpires  the  man  of  genius,  by  difclofirrg  itfelf  to  him  un-- 
der  eternal  attributes.  It  prefents  to  the  Geometriciaa, 
the  ineffable  progreflions  of  infinity ;  to  the  Mufician, 
rapturous  harmonies  ;  to  the  Hiflorian,  the  immortal 
fhades  of  virtuous  men.  It  raifes  a  ParnalTus  for  the  Po- 
et, and  an  Olympus   for  the  Hero.     It  iheds  a  luftre  on 

*  Plutarch  remarks,  that  Akxeniier  did  not  abandon  himfelf  to  thofe  vx- 
ccffes,  which  fullied  the  conclufion  of  his  glorious  career,  till  he  believed 
himfelf  to  bef^rfaken  of  the  Gods.  Not  only  does  this  fentiment  become 
a  fource  of  mifery,  when  it  feparales  itfelf  from  our  pleafures;  but  when, 
from  the  effeft  of  our  paffions,  or  of  our  inftitutions,  which  pervert  the 
Laws  of  Nature,  it  prefiTes  upon  our  miferies  ihemfclves.  Thus,  for  ex- 
ample, when  after  having  given  mechanical  Laws  to  the  operations  of  the 
foul,  we  eome  to  make  the  fentiment  of  infinity  to  bear  upon  our  phyfical 
and  tranfient  evils ;  in  this  cafe,  by  a  juft  reaftion,  our  mifery  becomes  in- 
fupportable.  I  have  prefented  only  a  faint  (ketch  of  the  two  principles  it» 
Mw ;  but  to  whatever  fenfation  of  pain,  or  of  pleafure,  they  may  be 
applied,  the  difference  of  their  nature,  and  their  perpetual  reaflion,  will 
be  felt. 

On  the  fubjeftof  Jlexavder  forfaken  of  the  Gods,  it  is  matter  of  furprlfe 
to  me,  that  the  exprefTion  of  this  fituation  fhonld  aot  have  infpircd  the  ge- 
nius of  fome  Grecian  Artift.  Here  is  what  I  find  on  this  fubjcft  in  Addtfon  z 
««  There  is  in  the  fame  gallery,  (at  Florence)  a  fine  buft  of  Alexander  thr 
"  Great,  with  the  face  turned  toward  Heaven,  and  impreffed  with  a  certain 
♦♦  dignified  air  of  chagrin  and  d»ITatisfaftion.  I  have  feen  two  or  thee  an- 
"  sient  hurts  of  Alexander,  with  the  fame  air,  and  in  the  fame  attitude  ;  and 
««  I  am  difpofed  to  believe,  that  the  Sculptor  purfued  the  idea  of  the'con- 
«  queror  fighing  after  new  worlds,  or  fome  fimilar  circumrtance  of  his  Hif- 
«  tory."  {Addi/o'n's  Voyage  to  Italy.)  I  imagine  that  the  circumrtance  of 
Alexander's  Hiftory,  to  which  thofe  hurts  ought  to  be  referred,  is  that  M'hich 
reprefents  him  complaining  of  being  abandoned  of  the  Gods.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  it  would  have  fixed  the  exquiGtc  jadgraent  of  Mdifon,  had  here* 
ooHefted  i^ie  obfervation  made  by  Plutarch. 


492  A  VINDICATION  of,  6?r, 

the  unfortunate  days  of  the  labouring  poor.  Amidft  tlie 
luxury  of  Paris,  it  extra£ls  a  figh  from  the  breafl  of  the 
humble  native  of  Savoy,  after  the  facred  covering  of  the 
fnows  upon  his  mountains.  It  expatiates  along  the  vaft 
Ocean,  and  recals,  from  the  gentle  climates  of  India,  the 
European  mariner,  to  the  llormy  fhores  of  the  Weft. 
It  beftows  a  country  on  the  wretched,  and  fills  with  re- 
gret thofe  who  have  loft  nothing.  It  covers  our  cradles 
with  the  charms  of  innocence,  and  the  tombs  of  our  fore- 
fathers with  the  hopes  of  immortality.  It  repofes  in  the 
midft  of  tumultuous  cities,  on  the  palaces  of  mighty 
Kings,  and  on  the  auguft  temples  of  Religion.  It  fre- 
quently fixes  its  refidence  in  the  defert,  and  attrafts  the 
attention  of  the  Univerfe  to  a  rock.  Thus  it  is  that  you 
are  clothed  with  maje%,  venerable  ruins  of  Greece  and 
Rome ;  and  you,  too,  myfterious  pyramids  of  Egypt ! 
This  is  the  objeft  which  we  are  invariably  purfuing,  a- 
midft  all  our  reftlefs  occupations  ;  but  the  moment  it 
difcovers  itfelf  to  us,  in  fome  unexpected  a6l  of  virtue, 
or  in  fome  one  of  thofe  events  which  may  be  denominated 
ftrokes  of  Heaven,  or  in  fome  of  thofe  indefcribably  fub- 
lime  emotions,  which  are  called  fentimental  touches,  by 
way  of  excellence,  its  firft  effeft  is  to  kindle  in  the  breaft 
a  very  ardent  movement  of  joy,  and  the  fecond  is  to  melt 
us  into  tears.  The  foul,  ftruck  with  this  divine  light, 
exults,  at  once,  in  enjoying  a  glimpfe  of  the  heavenly 
Countrv,  and  finks  at  the  thought  of  being  exiled  from  it* 

Oculis  crranlibusal'.o 

Qjaefivlt  cceIo  lucem,  ingemuitquerepcna. 

^NEiDj  Book  IV, 


■VVith  wandering  eyescxplor'd  the  heavenly  light, 
'J'hcn  llgh'cl,  and  funk  into  the  {hades  of  night. 


THE  END- 


i 


I 


'm 


)^f?r^iP|F^  V  -^^ 


^-  . 


'W^W^:^^ 


